Angels Don’t Need Any Help in Beating Carlton, Twins, 12-3

Tuesday came to pass for the Angels and the Minnesota Twins, time to lay down emery boards and sandpaper and pick up bats once again.

“We have to get back to playing baseball,” said Twins Manager Tom Kelly, about exhausted from answering questions about Joe Niekro and the little tool kit he keeps in his uniform pocket.

Angel Manager Gene Mauch was thinking pretty much the same thing--and wanted to make sure his players were on the same wavelength. His team had just lost two straight, so Mauch called a rare clubhouse meeting to remind the Angels that the 1987 American League West race does not hinge on six August showdowns with the first-place Twins.

“He told us there are too many games left to play and that we shouldn’t worry too much about these games with Minnesota,” shortstop Gus Polidor said. “He just said, ‘Play like you can play.’ ”

Mauch has often said that team meetings are overrated, but Tuesday night, he got his simple point across. Meeting adjourned, the Angels went out and thrashed Steve Carlton and the Twins, 12-3, racking up a season-high 19 hits and removing some of the sting from Monday night’s 11-3 defeat.

With the victory, the third-place Angels climbed back to within 1 1/2 games of the Twins. Oakland is a game out.

Carlton is part of Minnesota’s Codger Collection, one of two 40-year-old starting pitchers the Twins have acquired since Opening Day. Niekro is the other and he lasted 3 innings Monday night before umpires shook him down and tossed him out.

Carlton (5-10) lasted a little bit longer in his first Minnesota start. He went 4 innings before he was forced to depart.

Nothing illegal prompted his exit. Just a lot of ineffective pitches.

Carlton surrendered nine runs on 11 hits. Before he was through, he allowed at least one hit to every member of the Angel batting order, except Bob Boone, who walked once and scored twice.

And look who did some of the hitting:

--Gary Pettis. The beleaguered, strikeout-weary center fielder had a run-scoring double in the third inning, his 13th RBI of the season and his first since July 12. He later added an RBI single against reliever Keith Atherton, which gave Pettis his first two-hit game since July 1.

--Darrell Miller. The little-used, .188-hitting utilityman started in left field and had two singles against Carlton, driving in a run with one in the fifth inning.

--Doug DeCinces. His batting average down to .238, DeCinces delivered his first home run since July 7 to start a three-run third inning. Later, he doubled in two runs off Atherton in a five-run fifth inning.

--Mark McLemore. The .221-hitting rookie second baseman reached base all three times against Carlton, singling twice. He also drove in a run.

There were also a pair of RBI singles by Bill Buckner, who started in place of Wally Joyner; a two-run home run by Joyner, who replaced Buckner in the seventh inning; two singles by Polidor; and doubles by Brian Downing and George Hendrick.

“The thing I was most pleased about was everyone getting involved in the offense,” Mauch said.

So was Don Sutton, the lucky Angel pitcher on this night. Sutton pitched six innings, allowed three hits--one a three-run home run by Steve Lombardozzi--and picked up his easiest victory of the season. Once 3-8, Sutton is now 8-9.

Gary Lucas came on to pitch the final three innings, earning his second save of the season.

The Angel offense started early, with Downing hitting a leadoff double in the first inning, Miller singling him to third and Buckner singling him home.

In the third, DeCinces homered, Hendrick doubled and Buckner singled before Carlton could get an out. He got one before Polidor walked and Pettis hit his double, a drive into the gap in left-center field.

Pettis also knocked a ball out of the park in the fourth inning, but he did it with his face, not his bat. Starting in center field in place of injured Devon White, Pettis gave chase to a Gene Larkin fly ball that bounced off the top of the center-field fence, caught Pettis in the mouth and then caromed over the top of the wall.

Pettis wound up with a cut lip . . . and Larkin wound up with a ground-rule double.

“That thing hit him right in the mouth,” Mauch said. “I’ll tell you something, he still doesn’t know what happened--to this minute. He just knows someone snuck up on him from behind.”

Larkin’s grin-rule double preceded Lombardozzi’s home run to left, which sliced the Angels’ lead to 4-3.

It would become 8-3 by the end of the fifth, as the Angels sent nine batters to the plate in that inning.

Carlton faced seven of them. He walked Boone and Pettis and gave up singles to Polidor, McLemore and Miller. Then came Smith, who served up a bloop double to DeCinces, which climaxed the five-run outburst.

The Angels added two runs in the sixth inning and two in the seventh when Joyner delivered his home run. It was his 23rd of the season, giving him one more than his 1986 rookie total.

Back spasms kept Joyner out of the starting lineup, spasms that first cropped up Monday night. Joyner took batting practice Tuesday and told Mauch, “It hurts only when I miss.”

Mauch’s advice?

“Well, don’t miss.”

Once again, Mauch’s advice went well-heeded. For the Angels, it was a good night for that.

It was also a good night to face Carlton, a pitcher Sutton described as “the premier pitcher of my era, by far.”

But that era has faded, as even Sutton had to admit.

“Now, you’re seeing remnants of what we used to be,” he said.

Tuesday night, Carlton’s remnants couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning.

Angel Notes

Oops Dept.: There it was on the second page of the Angels’ pregame press notes--”The series finale (Wednesday) afternoon will pit Bert Blyleven (10-8) vs. John Candelaria (5-3).” As expected, Candelaria was replacing Jerry Reuss in the Angels’ starting rotation. So, where was the roster move? Well, uh, there wasn’t any, according to the the Angels, who had to make a red-faced correction in the press box Tuesday night. “In regards to the note sheet,” announced a team publicist, “although John Candelaria is listed, tomorrow’s starting pitcher is undecided. The decision will not be made until tomorrow morning.” For the record, Angel Manager Gene Mauch said he wanted to wait another day to update the condition of Reuss’ pulled left calf muscle. Still, consider the Angels’ hand tipped. A good bet for today: Candelaria on the mound and Reuss on the 15-day disabled list. . . . The inflamed arch in Devon White’s left foot kept him out of the starting lineup Tuesday. “Yesterday, it hurt whenever I walked on it,” White said. “Today, it’s not that bad.” White spent the afternoon receiving ice, heat and ultrasound treatment, basically keeping off his feet. White said he didn’t know when he would be able to play again. “I really can’t say,” he said. “Tomorrow, I going to try to run on it and we’ll see what happens.” . . . Add Injuries: The Twins placed right-handed reliever Juan Berenguer on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right elbow and recalled starting pitcher Roy Smith from Triple-A Portland. Berenguer was 5-0 with 3 saves and a 3.87 earned-run average in 30 games. Smith, 25, was 9-11 with a 3.96 ERA for Portland.