Angels’ Situation Goes From Bad to Worse, 7-6

Five days into September, and the Angels have backed themselves into a corner.

“We’re definitely in trouble now,” designated hitter Brian Downing said Saturday in the wake of the Angels’ 7-6 defeat by the New York Yankees.

How much trouble?

Well, with 26 games remaining on their regular-season schedule, the fourth-place Angels, who have lost four straight, trail first-place Minnesota by 6 1/2 games in the American League West--and they have no more games with the Twins. They also have no more games with the second-place Oakland Athletics.

“We definitely have a major problem, being as how we don’t play Minnesota and Oakland anymore,” Downing said. “We had our chances, but we let it get away the last couple of weeks.

“Now, it’s going to be extremely difficult. We have to put together a tremendous winning streak just to put us within some distance of the top.”

How tremendous?

“Instead of us having to win 8 in a row somewhere along the way, we’re going to have to win 10 in a row now,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “We might as well start tomorrow.”

The latest Angel breakdown was all-encompassing. On this day, everything fell apart:

--Pitching. Angel starter Don Sutton was handed a 4-0 lead before he threw a pitch, but before the third inning was complete, he had handed it right back. Mike Pagliarulo and Dan Pasqua hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning and three more Yankees scored in the third. Sutton lasted just 2 innings and by the time reliever Willie Fraser ended the third inning, New York led, 5-4.

--Hitting. The first four Angels to face Yankee starter Ron Guidry reached base--and all of them scored, Tony Armas driving in three with a home run to right. Then, over a span of 24 outs, the Angels failed to record another hit. From the second through the eighth inning, all the Angel offense could muster was a pair of walks by Doug DeCinces.

--Defense. Center fielder Devon White committed his fourth error of the trip by over-running Gary Ward’s RBI single in the third inning, enabling Pasqua to advance from first to third. In the fourth inning, second baseman Johnny Ray couldn’t run down a catchable bloop single by Rickey Henderson. Ray then allowed Henderson to score after a double by Willie Randolph, holding the ball at second just as Henderson was rounding third.

--Equipment. “They quit putting good wood in bats and good leather in gloves,” lamented Mauch, whose team broke along with DeCinces’ glove and Jack Howell’s bat.

In the second inning, DeCinces backhanded a sharp one-hopper by Randolph, but the leather tie between the middle and fourth fingers of his glove snapped. The ball escaped DeCinces’ grasp for a double and the Yankees were on their way to a three-run inning.

“He was going to turn a double play if the glove holds,” Mauch said.

Then, in the ninth inning, Howell snapped his bat in two--and drove the ball into the right-field seats.

A broken-bat home run.

“That’s one of the most shocking things I’ve ever seen,” said Yankee reliever Tim Stoddard, who delivered the pitch.

Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola, on hand for NBC’s national telecast, were shocked, too, wondering loud and long about the possibility of Howell corking his bat. A busted bat couldn’t be enough to power a baseball out of the park, could it?

Sure it could, Mauch said.

“I saw Johnny Callison do it in Wrigley Field,” Mauch said. “The ball busted the bat right in half.”

With Howell, the bat splintered just above the handle, the head landing next to Mattingly at first base. Mattingly inspected it and finding nothing unusual, handed it to a bat boy, who brought the bat’s remains into the Angel dugout.

Neither Yankee Manager Lou Piniella nor the umpiring crew requested an inquest.

“I invited ‘em to take the bat,” Mauch said. “Lou didn’t think anything of it. The bat broke at the handle; there was nothing wrong with that bat.”

Said Howell: “I was more surprised that the bat broke than the fact it went out. I knew I hit it good. Then, I had this empty feeling in my hands and I saw the head of the bat flying to first. That was the surprise.”

Howell displayed the bat for reporters and said it’s “a shame” that the home run raised at least a smattering of suspicion.

“If this had been some other time, when you’re not always reading about corked bats and scuffed balls, what I did would have been an oddity, an outstanding feat,” Howell said. “As I read Mattingly say, ‘Just let everyone play ball.’ All this stuff takes away from the game.”

Howell’s home run pulled the Angels to within 7-5 and then White reached second on an error by shortstop Bobby Meacham and a passed ball by catcher Rick Cerone. White made it 7-6 when DeCinces beat out an infield single and third baseman Pagliarulo threw the ball away.

However, Dave Righetti struck out Bob Boone to end the game and mercifully end another big tease for the Angels.

“How many times on this road trip have we lost 7-6 or 8-7?” Downing asked. “We were very close today, once again. But the bottom line is the final score.”

On this trip, which Downing categorized as “vital,” the Angels are 3-6 with one game remaining. The schedule gets softer from here on out, but Downing fears the Angels may have already made it too hard on themselves.

“It’d be ridiculous to even think about that,” said Downing, whose team plays its final 25 games against Cleveland, Chicago, Texas and Kansas City. “We’re so far behind now.

“We can’t expect to cruise by now and hope for later. There may not be a later.”

Angel Notes

Yankee Manager Lou Piniella didn’t call for an inspection of Jack Howell’s broken bat, but if he had, Gene Mauch had a bet lined up for Piniella. “Lou’s been known to make a wager or two,” Mauch said. “I would have bet him 2,000 (dollars) to 10 that there was nothing wrong with that bat. The umpires didn’t even look at it. It’s over in the corner, wearing a black arm band.” Actually, Howell had the bat holed up in the Angels’ training room and brought it out for reporters at the request of team publicist Tim Mead. Both pieces showed only splintered wood grain. Howell, however, acted swiftly after hitting the home run, grabbing the bat’s pieces as soon as he crossed home plate from the bat boy. Howell was asked about his intentions. “It’s not very often that your bat explodes and you hit a home run,” he said. “I wanted to keep it.” Angel hitting coach Rick Down said he had never seen a broken-bat home run, but imagined it was feasible for Howell. “Jack shaves his bat handles,” Down said. “He likes a small handle, so he shaves and shaves it. But how small can you make it before it breaks? Besides that, he’s strong.”

The back-to-back home runs allowed by Don Sutton in the third inning extended a club record the Angels set Friday night. Previously, the Angels’ single-season record for most home runs allowed was 180, established in the team’s inaugural season, 1961. With three home runs Friday and two more Saturday, the 1987 Angel pitching staff has served up 184. . . . With his first-inning single, Johnny Ray extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Ray batted safely in his last four games with Pittsburgh and his first six with the Angels. . . . After pitching 5 innings Wednesday in Toronto, Willie Fraser worked 2 Saturday, surrendering 2 runs on 5 hits. Mauch then brought on well-rested Jack Lazorko, who retired all nine Yankees he faced. “I was too late getting around to Lazorko, obviously,” Mauch admitted. . . . Howell’s home run was his second in as many days. Before that, Howell had homered once between July 10 and Sept. 2.