Canseco, A’s Put Hammer to Angels, 13-3

Angel Manager Gene Mauch was admiring Jose Canseco Saturday night, marveling at the Oakland left fielder’s propensity for sending batting-practice baseballs into the outer regions of Anaheim Stadium.

“That’s some sight to see a bat swung that hard,” Mauch said. “He really air-mails it. I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t love to see Canseco swing a bat.”

Believe it, Gene.

Mauch was probably grasping for the nearest blindfold after he watched Canseco smash a towering, three-run home run to center field in the fourth inning.

The shot traveled 448 feet, according to the Anaheim Stadium home run meter, and capped a six-run inning as the Athletics bombed the Angels, 13-3, before 43,868 fans.

Canseco’s was one of 2 homers and 9 other hits the Athletics had off Angel starter John Candelaria and reliever Jack Lazorko, who also combined to walk 8.

“That wasn’t Candelaria, and that wasn’t us tonight,” Mauch said. “It was damn poor timing on our part to give up that many runs on successive days. (The Angels lost to Oakland, 7-6, in 12 innings Friday night.) We’ll have to do something about that tomorrow.”

For Candelaria, it was his second straight loss since his six-inning shutout performance in the Angels’ 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins Aug. 5. Candelaria (6-5) was beaten in his last start Tuesday night, when he lasted only 5 innings and allowed 4 runs in the Angels’ 7-2 loss to the Twins.

Saturday night, Candelaria was roughed up for 7 hits and 8 runs, all of them earned. His earned-run average shot from 4.57 to 5.21.

Lazorko, who replaced Candelaria to start the fifth, wasn’t much better. He allowed 4 hits and 5 runs and walked 5 in 1 innings, as his ERA rose from 4.76 to 5.19.

About the only redeeming factors for the Angels were Gary Lucas, who threw 3 innings of hitless relief, and an offense that managed 11 hits off Dave Stewart and Rick Rodriguez.

“We stood around last year and took some lickings, and we’ve taken some this year,” Mauch said. “We’ve come back from these games before and done well. We’ll see.”

Although he allowed eight hits in seven innings, Stewart was good enough to beat the Angels on this night. He struck out only one but didn’t walk a batter, improving his record to 16-8.

Stewart also improved his career record against the Angels to 8-1, as Oakland moved into second place in the American League West, 4 games behind Minnesota. The Angels dropped to third, 4 1/2 games back.

The Athletics had lost six of seven games, including a four-game sweep by the Twins, on their trip before they reached Anaheim, but it appears they are back on track.

“After we lost those games in Minnesota and two out of three in Seattle, nothing was ever said about what we had to do here,” Stewart said. “But the general consensus among the guys was that we had to play hard and get back in the race. Minnesota is playing well, and we didn’t want to lose any ground.”

They didn’t Saturday night. Oakland took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Carney Lansford’s two-run homer to left field and broke the game open with a six-run fourth, all of the runs coming after two were out.

While Canseco provided the big hit, No. 9 hitter Dwayne Murphy may have done the most damage by drawing a two-out walk to load the bases.

Alfredo Griffin followed with a two-run single up the middle that bounced off second base umpire Tim McClelland and into short left field.

Steve Henderson singled to center for the third run of the inning, with Murphy advancing from first to third and barely beating Devon White’s throw to Doug DeCinces. Canseco then ripped a Candelaria pitch over the wall in center to make it 8-0, his 24th homer of the season.

The Angels staged an uprising of their own in the bottom of the fourth, as White led off with a single, Wally Joyner smashed a ground-rule double to right-center field and Bill Buckner lined a two-run single to center to cut the lead to 8-2.

Ruppert Jones followed DeCinces’ fly-out to deep left field with a single, but Stewart got Dick Schofield and Gus Polidor to fly out to end the inning.

Oakland put the game out of reach with three runs in the fifth inning, two coming on Murphy’s run-scoring single and the third on Griffin’s RBI double, and two more in the sixth, on Murphy’s second two-run single.

The Angels scored their final run on Jones’ solo home run in the sixth.

Angel Notes

Pitcher Jerry Reuss, who has been sidelined for 15 days because of a strained right calf, is eligible to come off the disabled list today, but no roster move will be made. The left-hander, who has a 3-1 record and 4.46 earned-run average, isn’t sure why. “I’ve been ready to pitch for five days,” said Reuss, who threw in a simulated game this past week. “I’m doing fine. (Manager) Gene Mauch and (General Manager) Mike Port are the ones who make the decisions. Ask them.” According to Port, there is simply no room for Reuss on the roster right now. “We’re waiting to see what happens with the other members of the staff,” Port said. In other words, Reuss probably won’t be activated unless a another pitcher is injured or proves himself worthy of the minor leagues. . . . What Dick Schofield called “a once-in-a-lifetime thing” Friday night turned into at least a twice-in-a-lifetime thing when he made his second straight start at second base Saturday night. Schofield said he had never played the position, not even in Little League or high school, but he handled both Friday night chances, including a back-hand stab of Tony Bernazard’s fourth-inning grounder, flawlessly. Mauch figured he wouldn’t have any problems with the switch from shortstop. “A qualified major league shortstop can play anything,” he said. Schofield’s presence at second is a vote of confidence for Gus Polidor, who is obviously proving to Mauch that he’s a qualified major league shortstop. Polidor, who was hitting .259 entering Saturday night’s game, was expected to be platooned with Mark McLemore at second when Schofield returned from the disabled list Tuesday. So far, Polidor hasn’t missed a start. “Before, they knew I had a good glove, but they didn’t think I could hit big league pitching,” Polidor said. “But when they saw me play 17 games in a row, they changed their minds. I feel good, real happy. I want to help this team, go to the playoffs, the World Series . . . “ The odd man out is McLemore and his .228 average. “How am I supposed to take it?” McLemore said. “I come out expecting to play every day. It’s up to him (Mauch) whether I do.” Mauch wouldn’t say if the combination of Polidor at shortstop and Schofield at second was temporary or permanent. “We’ll just see how it works itself out,” he said. . . . Reliever Donnie Moore, trying to recover from a strained rib cage muscle, threw 10 minutes of long-toss Saturday and 5 minutes from the mound, the first time he had thrown from a mound since his last game appearance, on July 8. “I’ll see how I feel tomorrow,” Moore said. “Usually, it’s sore the next day. Hopefully, it won’t be.” Still no news on the Don Baylor front. “I don’t know anything more than I knew yesterday,” Mauch said. . . . Saturday night’s attendance (43,868) increased the Angels’ season total to 2,019,704, making them the first American League club and third major league franchise (along with the Dodgers and New York Mets) to surpass the 2-million mark this season. It marks the sixth straight season that the Angels have gone over 2 million.