Fraser’s Arm Strong Enough for 5-3 Victory

Preparations were made and precautions were taken as Angel rookie Willie Fraser embarked upon his 14th start of the season Wednesday night at Anaheim Stadium.

Fraser has a history of shoulder problems--a recent history, at that--and had to be bailed out of his last start after just four innings when his arm tired and his velocity dropped dramatically.

In the event of a relapse, Angel Manager Gene Mauch laid out his contingency plan. The radar gun would be monitored closely. Jack Lazorko was primed for possible long relief.

“If he hadn’t had a history of having tired shoulders, we wouldn’t do anything,” Mauch explained. “We’re not concerned . . . but we have to be wary of it.”

There would be no complete game from Fraser Wednesday night, but neither would the assignment need to be aborted. Fraser pitched long enough--and well enough--to earn the decision in the Angels’ 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox before a crowd of 32,576.

Fraser (6-6) lasted 5 innings, limiting Boston to 4 hits and 2 runs. With relief help from Donnie Moore and DeWayne Buice, he pitched the Angels to their fourth straight victory and their 14th win in their last 17 games.

The victory also completed the Angels’ first three-game sweep of the Red Sox since May 1974.

For the Red Sox, it was their fifth straight loss.

Sitting in the dugout more than an hour before Fraser’s first pitch, Mauch spoke optimistically.

“I expect him to pitch just like he did in Boston,” Mauch said, referring to Fraser’s complete-game victory over the Red Sox May 9.

However, Mauch also talked about Fraser’s tired-arm tendencies and the attendant symptoms.

“You’ll know it when you see it,” he said. “Last time, the velocity suddenly was gone.

“The same thing happened last year, when we brought him up late in the season. He pitched beautifully for Palm Springs, he pitched beautifully for Edmonton. Then he comes here and his arm is tired.

“He pitched one game in Cleveland (for 4 innings) and that was it.”

Wednesday night, Fraser’s arm held up for 98 pitches. He yielded just four hits, but two of them were solo home runs. Fraser served up Dwight Evans’ 16th home run in the fourth inning and Wade Boggs’ 15th homer in the sixth.

For both Evans and Boggs, the blows were their fourth home runs of the season at Anaheim Stadium.

However, Fraser left with a 5-2 lead due to some surprising output by the normally silent bottom half of the Angel batting order.

No. 7 hitter Dick Schofield (.224 at game time) had three singles and an RBI. No. 8 hitter Gary Pettis (.221) reached base three times and scored a run. No. 9 hitter Mark McLemore (.223) had a two-run double.

Such offense did wonders for Fraser’s shoulder.

“This was a vast improvement over last time,” Mauch said. “He threw a lot of pitches and his velocity decreased gradually, but his determination sure didn’t. (The dropoff) wasn’t nearly as drastic as before.”

Said Fraser: “I felt 100% better than I did the other night. The arm stiffened a little bit in the fifth inning, but it was fine again in the sixth.

“I was a little scared when it first happened (in Fraser’s last start). But now, I feel it’s just a matter of the shoulder getting stronger and getting back to where it was.”

Moore, who replaced Fraser in the sixth and also worked the seventh, is also trying to pitch himself back into shape. His second outing since returning from the disabled list was ragged--4 singles, 1 walk and 1 run in 1 innings.

Afterward, Moore was asked if he felt good while pitching.

“Not really,” he said. “My body doesn’t feel like it’s in shape. I don’t feel close (to top form).”

Moore didn’t look it, either, allowing a seventh-inning run and having to strike out Mike Greenwell to get out of a bases-loaded, two-out situation.

And once again, Moore was greeted by boos upon his entrance from the bullpen.

He was asked if he was able to block out the reaction while pitching.

Moore: “I got to.”

Does it bother Moore away from the park?

Moore: “Hell, no. There, I got my family and they don’t boo me. As long as the fans keep coming, that’s all I care about.”

Moore gave way to Buice in the eighth. And Buice responded with his ninth save of the season and his second in as many nights, pitching two innings of one-hit relief.

“If I thought (Moore) could have gotten through with the minimal number of pitches, he could have finished it,” Mauch said. “I’m just trying to get Moore back. Buice is already there. Now, I want to get Moore there, too.

“He regards himself as a control pitcher . . . and I do, too. He still has some work to do there.”

Angel Notes

Another day, another twist in the Kirk McCaskill comeback story. Now, Angel Manager Gene Mauch says he is contemplating delaying McCaskill’s next start until after the All-Star break, which would allow him another week before making a roster decision. “I know Kirk’s anxious to go,” Mauch said. “I understand that. But it could be the best thing in the world for him if, after pitching three times (in the minors), he maybe backed off for a week. We’ll handle it the best way we can. Anyway you look at it, we’ll pitch him just after the All-Star break.” Mauch has Jack Lazorko listed as his Friday night starter, with Jerry Reuss and Mike Witt to follow. Before Wednesday night’s game, Mauch said he would pitch McCaskill Friday night only if Lazorko was needed in long relief in support of Willie Fraser. When Lazorko remained in the bullpen, he figured to remain, at least temporarily, in the starting rotation.

Whatever Works Dept.: Doug DeCinces has gotten aggressive again at the plate--he took a seven-game hitting streak into Wednesday night’s game--by, well, keeping the bat on his shoulder. Actually, DeCinces rests the bat there just before swinging. “I did it all last year until the last three weeks to a month of the season,” DeCinces said. “I didn’t change because as I was struggling. It was more an adjustment to the way people were pitching me. I started doing it in Cleveland (last week) again. I had to do something different and maybe it’s making a difference. Maybe I’m finally coming around.” DeCinces noticed that a similar adjustment has helped revitalize the career of ex-Dodger Greg Brock. “I saw that (Milwaukee coach) Tony Muser changed Brock to it,” he said. “It eliminates him looping the bat and it’s made an incredible difference for him. He really looks great up there.”

After saving his eighth game of the season Tuesday night, a bare-chested DeWayne Buice saw the television cameras swooping in around his locker. “Wait!” Buice told the TV crews. “Let me get a shirt on.” Said one cameraman as he readied to roll: “No, that’s OK.” Buice: “Are you kidding? Nobody should have to look at this body. I even close my eyes when I look in the mirror.” . . . Buice earned that save by retiring all five Red Sox he faced, including Don Baylor, Bill Buckner and Marty Barrett. “I had a vendetta against them,” said Buice, who suffered his first major league loss to the Red Sox in Boston May 8. “They beat me around pretty good in Fenway. (Dwight) Evans and Baylor both homered, and (Jim) Rice had a double. I needed to get back at them.”