Angels Manage to Save Some Face but Lose Third Straight to Mariners

Determined not to let the Seattle Mariners score in double figures for the third night in a row, Angel Manager Gene Mauch sent his ace, Mike Witt, to the Kingdome mound Saturday and hoped for the best.

What Witt delivered was nothing as gruesome as what Willie Fraser and Kirk McCaskill wrought before him, but then again, it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent another Angel defeat. The best thing any of the Angels could say about this 5-3 loss to the Mariners was that, for once, the final score wasn’t an embarrassment.

But it was costly. The Angels’ third straight defeat, coupled with Minnesota’s 9-2 victory over the Oakland A’s, dropped the Angels 3 1/2 games behind the Twins and negated all the ground made up on California’s last homestand.

Witt (13-8) lasted 6 innings, gave up 11 hits and walked 5. Against Witt, Seattle had at least two runners on base in every inning except the fourth.

Alvin Davis hit a two-run homer in the first inning, John Moses and Ken Phelps had RBIs in the second and third innings and Jim Presley’s single in the seventh inning drove in the Mariners’ fifth run.

Offensively, the Angels had one runner (Devon White) thrown out at second base and another (Ruppert Jones) thrown out at home, and they left the bases loaded twice. This helped make Mariner starter Mike Morgan (10-11) a winner with relief help from Bill Wilkinson, who worked the final 3 innings for his fifth save.

Witt struggled from the start, allowing two hits in each of the first three innings, a double in the fourth and two baserunners in both the fifth and sixth innings.

Seattle capitalized to take a 4-0 lead into the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the first, Scott Bradley short-hopped the fence in left-center field with a two-out double. Then, on a 2-and-2 pitch, Alvin Davis made it 2-0 with his 16th home run of the season.

In the second and third innings, the Witt let the leadoff hitter reach base--and in both instances, it cost him.

Phelps walked to open the second. One out later, Rey Quinones singled, Harold Reynolds walked and the bases were loaded. Moses followed with a single to right, which drove in Phelps and sent Quinones homeward as well.

But Angel right fielder Jack Howell made a strong throw to the plate that left catcher Bob Boone waiting for Quinones with the tag. Witt then struck out Phil Bradley to end the inning.

In the third, Scott Bradley led off with another double and moved to third on an infield out. Again on a two-out pitch, Witt hurt himself--serving up a run-scoring single to Phelps.

Trailing 4-0, the Angels broke a 12-inning scoreless streak with a run in the fourth. It was an unearned run but the Angels, outscored, 29-4, in the first two games of this series, weren’t concerned with style.

With the bases loaded, Gus Polidor hit a chopper to third that Presley gloved and then booted. White scored from third on the error and the bases remained loaded.

They stayed that way, too, when .228-hitting Mark McLemore grounded back to Mike Morgan for the third out.

Wally Joyner brought the Angels to within 4-3 in the fifth inning with his 24th home run of the year. With Jones on base, Joyner drove the ball to the opposite field, clearing the fence in left-center field--sore ribs and all.

Joyner also figured in two Angel near-misses.

In the second inning, with Jones on first base, Joyner also went to the opposite field with a line-drive double. The ball reached the left-field corner and Jones was running with two outs. But Jones seemed to hesitate around third, giving the Mariners enough time to set up a relay team.

Left fielder Phil Bradley fired to shortstop Quinones, who fired to catcher Scott Bradley, who made the tag on Jones.

Then, in the sixth inning, the Angels loaded the bases with two outs on singles by Boone and Polidor and a walk to pinch-hitter Brian Downing. Joyner faced Wilkinson with a chance to at least tie the game but on a 2-and-2 pitch, he lofted an inning-ending fly ball to right.

Other chances were botched by the Angels throughout the first seven innings.

White was called out to end the first inning on a stolen-base attempt--beating the throw with a head-first slide, only to pull his hand from the base and allow Quinones to make the tag.

Doug DeCinces stranded four runners with two strikeouts in the fourth and seventh innings. Also in the seventh, Boone left two runners on base by hitting into a force play for the third out.

Wilkinson retired the last Angels he faced. He struck out a total four, including Mark McLemore in the eighth and both Joyner and White in the ninth.

Angel Notes

Kirk McCaskill and Gene Mauch had differing views of McCaskill’s Friday night stint (5-plus innings, 9 runs, 5 earned runs) during the Angels’ 14-0 loss to Seattle. “I had good stuff,” McCaskill said Saturday. “It still amazes me they got nine runs. This is a big step forward. With a (strike) call here and there, it would have been a completely different ballgame. I didn’t get a couple calls low in the strike zone, which made me have to throw 30 extra pitches in five innings. Suddenly, you’re at 100 pitches after five innings. That takes a toll.” Said Mauch: “If I didn’t pitch any better than that, I wouldn’t say a thing and wait till my next start. He had pretty good stuff, but it doesn’t mean anything unless you throw it where you want. The umpires were tough on him, but so what? Get the next guy out. We’re not talking about a marginal pitcher here.” . . . With Monday’s off-day, Mauch said he is reshuffling his pitching rotation to allow Mike Witt to start against Minnesota. Mauch’s pitching schedule for the Twins series: John Candelaria on Tuesday, McCaskill Wednesday and Witt Thursday. Willie Fraser, whose next turn would have been Wednesday, will spend a week in the bullpen. “This gives us a little more latitude,” said Mauch, who plans to use Fraser in middle relief. “I’m tired of using the early bullpen and not having them get us to the late bullpen. (DeWayne) Buice and (Greg) Minton can take care of the late part of the game, but we have to get to them first.” Fraser, who lasted just 2 innings in his last start, said he didn’t mind the switch. “I’m not real worried about it,” he said. “We’re moving into the pennant race, and I have the least amount of time in of everybody (in the rotation). The ‘pen has been used a lot lately, so maybe I can help up down there for a while. They told me it’s only until Saturday (when Fraser is scheduled to start against Oakland). But if they want me to stay in the ‘pen, that’d be fine, too.”

Brian Downing has a career batting average of .333 against Seattle’s Mike Morgan but was held out of the lineup Saturday because Bill Buckner (.346) was at designated hitter and because Downing’s sore right shoulder wouldn’t allow him to play in the outfield. Downing strained the arm while throwing out Ken Phelps at home Thursday night. “He threw it just like a catcher,” Mauch said. “It wasn’t very fluid. He knew he had a chance to get the guy out, so he got rid of it as far as he could. Afterward he told me, ‘That’s the way it used to hurt. Maybe because it’s been so long since I felt it, it shocked me.’ ” Mauch said he plans to keep Downing out of the outfield at least until Tuesday. . . . Among the many pregame questions fired at Mauch was why he didn’t use a position player to pitch during the Angels’ 15-4 and 14-0 losses (“If I was a pitcher, I don’t think I’d like to see a backup outfielder come in to pitch,” he said); how Wally Joyner is feeling (“After tomorrow, I don’t intend for him to miss a game unless I think it’s a good idea”) and when Jerry Reuss will return (“When he’s eligible, that’s the plan.”) Finally, Mauch tired of the interrogation. After a lull in the dialogue, Mauch blurted, “And Doug DeCinces had a bran muffin and bananas for breakfast.” . . . Smoking is prohibited in the Kingdome, an idea some Angel player apparently wanted extended to the visitors’ clubhouse. Written on the chalkboard in the Angel locker room Saturday was this message: “John Candelaria--Please do not smoke in the locker room. No one wants to smell it.” Then, scrawled underneath was a rebuttal by a fellow smoker: “But it’s OK if you do--Buice.”