Brewers Throw Tradition to Wind, Beat Angels, 2-1

If there is a textbook way to play baseball and plot late-inning strategy, Milwaukee Brewers Manager Tom Trebelhorn must be consulting the revised edition.

In the Brewers’ 2-1 victory over the Angels Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium, Trebelhorn and Angel Manager Gene Mauch demonstrated there are two ways to skin a cat--or get out of a bases-loaded, no-outs predicament.

Mauch’s way: Position your corner infielders right on the corners and guard against the extra-base hit down the line. In the sixth inning, this paid off for the Angels, as third baseman Jack Howell backhanded a sharp grounder by Milwaukee’s Bill Schroeder and turned it into a double play, helping reliever DeWayne Buice pitch out of the jam.

Trebelhorn’s way: Play first baseman Greg Brock 15 feet off the line and wait for Wally Joyner to hit a blistering one-hopper right at Brock. See Brock turn this potential game-winner in the bottom of the ninth into a first-to-home-to-first double play--and then watch reliever Dan Plesac escape the inning undamaged.

That’s precisely how Milwaukee wriggled out of defeat before a sellout crowd of 62,536. With the bases full and no outs in the ninth, Brock turned a possible two-run single by Joyner into two outs, and then Plesac got pinch-hitter Butch Wynegar to pop to shortstop for the third out.

Afterward, Mauch the traditionalist fumed.

“I promise you this,” Mauch said. “They will get burned with (Brock) playing off the line and in like that. They will get burned .”

Mauch allowed that Brock “made a very, very nice play,” but then demanded, “How hard to you want (Joyner) to hit it? You want him to hit a bullet--and he did.”

Joyner, a first baseman by trade, admitted surprise at the unorthodox positioning by Brock.

“Yeah,” Joyner said, “but it paid off. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. It looks like Brock won the game for them.”

Added Buice, who saw his fourth victory of the season vanish before his very eyes: “I thought the game was over. Wally crushed it. Three feet to either side of (Brock) and we’ve won the game.

“In that situation, you’ve got to guard the line. And Wally’s a pull hitter. You put your third basemen and first basemen on the lines and play your outfielders in the gaps.”

Unless you think like Tom Trebelhorn.

Yes, there was a method to Milwaukee’s madness, Trebelhorn said.

“We call that our ‘3’ defense, with the corners up,” he said. “It’s a basic situation. We play most left-handed hitters against Plesac 15 to 20 feet off the line, anyway.

“Plesac has a tendency to give up hits the other way. (Doug) DeCinces went to right field against him. With a left-hander (Plesac) facing a left-hander (Joyner), based on tendencies, we didn’t think Joyner would pull the ball. If a guy’s throwing 94, 95 m.p.h., it’s tough to turn on it.

“I just didn’t think (Brock’s) placement was greatly out of the ordinary.”

Trebelhorn smiled.

“I guess we got lucky,” he said. “Say we were very fortuitous in our placement of Brock.”

The Angels loaded the bases against Plesac when two pinch-hitters delivered and Devon White beat out a close--and controversial--play at first base.

After a single by DeCinces, who was batting for Gary Pettis, and a walk by Brian Downing, who was batting for Howell, White hit a grounder that short-hopped third baseman Ernest Riles and caromed away from him. Riles retrieved the ball and threw to first, but first base umpire Rich Garcia ruled White safe.

Trebelhorn protested but was not very fortuitous this time. The Angels came way with bases loaded and no outs.

Then came Joyner’s smash to Brock, who threw to catcher Schroeder for a force play on DeCinces. Schroder then threw back to Brock to double up Joyner.

After an intentional walk to George Hendrick, Plesac got Wynegar, the Angels’ fourth pinch-hitter of the inning, to pop out to Dale Sveum at shortstop, and the Angels dropped below .500 (40-41) as the season reached its halfway point.

Before the climactic ninth, Milwaukee’s Chris Bosio (4-2), a reliever-turned-starter by necessity, held the Angels to 4 hits through 8 innings--retiring the last 16 batters he faced.

That was enough to defeat Don Sutton (5-9), who labored through five-plus innings, throwing 104 pitches before leaving the bases-loaded for Buice with no outs in the sixth.

Sutton yielded a solo home run to Robin Yount in the first inning and then surrendered the decisive run in the third on a walk to Riles and singles by Yount and Brock.

All the Angels could manage against Bosio was a third-inning single and a stolen base by Dick Schofield, followed by a run-scoring double by Mark McLemore.

“Somehow, some way it worked out,” Trebelhorn said. “I’m still not sure how we did it.”

And Mauch still isn’t sure why the Brewers did it.

Angel Notes

Neither Brian Downing nor Doug DeCinces were in the Angels’ starting lineup Saturday. “We’ll do that a certain number of times a season,” Manager Gene Mauch said. “That’s the best way to keep older guys rested. And the best way to keep the other guys, who have to come off the bench and hit, sharp is to play them a few games.” So Mauch started Mark Ryal at designated hitter and Jack Howell at third base, with Gary Pettis taking Downing’s place as leadoff hitter. The Angels were 11-5 since June 17, the date Downing was re-instated as the club’s regular leadoff man. Pettis, who had not batted leadoff since June 12, struck out in his first two at-bats Saturday, raising his team-leading total to 83. . . . The sore shoulders that forced Mike Witt and Willie Fraser out of starts Thursday and Friday won’t cause either to miss their next turn in the Angels’ pitching rotation. Mauch: “The only thing I can tell you is that Mike Witt will pitch Tuesday and Willie Fraser will pitch Wednesday.” . . . Dick Schofield’s steal of second base in the third inning gave him 10 this season. The Angels have four players with 10 or more steals--Mark McLemore (21), Devon White (16) and Pettis (15) being the others. The last time the Angels had four base stealers in double figures was 1979, when Don Baylor, Carney Lansford, Rod Carew and Bert Campaneris all stole between 12 and 22 bases. . . . DeWayne Buice played winter ball on the same team with Tony Armas, the free-agent outfielder the Angels’ signed to a Triple-A contract Wednesday, and calls the acquisition “a good move. He DH’ed for us in Venezuela and he helped us. He’s a strong, strong man. He’s had a lot of physical problems and he’ll never have that great throwing arm again, but he can still play the game. I think he’d be a good man off the bench for us here.” When asked if Armas can still hit for power, Buice pounced on the question as if it were a straight line. “Oh, yeah ,” Buice said with a grin. “In the playoffs, he hit one ball so hard, it went through the first baseman’s legs and kept going, over the fence for home run.” And if you believe that one. . . . Buice broke out laughing. “Well, it wasn’t that hard, but you get the idea. It was a hellacious line drive.”