Presley Has Moore’s Number; Angels Lose

Dave Henderson still owns the top spot on Angel relief pitcher Donnie Moore’s public enemy list, but not far behind is Seattle Mariners third baseman Jim Presley.

Two years ago, on opening night in the Kingdome, Moore faced Presley in the bottom of 10th in a tie game and served up a game-losing grand slam.

Now it’s 1988, and Presley is still beating Moore with late-inning hits. No home runs this time, but Presley’s two-out single to left Saturday night was just as damaging--bringing home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Mariners edged the Angels, 7-6, before 24,771 at the Kingdome.

With Scott Bradley on second base and Glenn Wilson on first, Presley swung at the first pitch he saw from Moore and lined it into the outfield. No need to wait Moore out. Presley, apparently, has Moore memorized.

“I don’t have any idea what it is,” Moore said. “I tried to make a good pitch on the outside of the plate. I didn’t want to give him anything to drive, definitely.

“I wanted to make a fastball there--and I did. Just not where I wanted it.”

The last time Moore appeared in a game, last Saturday, was the last time the Angels lost a game. In that one, Moore surrendered four runs in the ninth inning, including a three-run home run to Mark McGwire, in an 8-6 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

Since then, the Angels had won four straight and appeared headed for No. 5 as they entered the ninth inning Saturday, leading, 6-5, after Butch Wynegar’s eighth-inning home run.

But in the ninth, leadoff hitter Bruce Fields pushed a bunt past Angel reliever DeWayne Buice for an infield single that ignited a Mariner rally. Sacrificed to second, Fields tied the score on a single to left by Bradley.

Rookie Frank DiMichele replaced Buice and faced one batter, pinch-hitter Rich Renteria. He retired him on a flyball to center.

Then Angel Manager Cookie Rojas brought on Moore to get the last out and bring on extra innings.

Rojas is still waiting for that out.

Moore made three pitches--and two resulted in base hits. Wilson grounded Moore’s second pitch up the middle for a single, setting the stage, once again, for Presley.

Presley’s game-winner capped a night in which the Angels squandered leads of 2-1, 3-2, 5-3 and, finally, 6-5.

Angel starter Willie Fraser lasted 5 innings, struggling virtually the entire way. He surrendered two home runs and a triple, walked four, balked twice, hit a batter and left the bases loaded in the first inning.

In the first inning, Fraser recorded two quick outs and then served up Alvin Davis’ second home run of the season. For the Mariners, the hit was a win-one, lose-one proposition. They gained the lead but lost a first baseman, with Davis pulling up lame at home plate after pulling a groin muscle during his home run trot.

How did Fraser respond to the home run pitch?

By promptly loading the bases--hitting Ken Phelps with a pitch and walking Wilson and Presley. Fraser only pitched out of the inning with assistance from shortstop Dick Schofield, who went to his knees to turn a hard grounder by Dave Valle into an inning-ending force play.

But in the second inning, Fraser’s defense rested. Right fielder Chili Davis misplayed Harold Reynolds’ sinking line drive into a triple when he failed to short-hop the ball, allowing it instead to roll all the way to the wall.

Reynolds scored when Angel second baseman Mark McLemore showboated a grounder by Fields into an error. Trying to field the ball with a swipe of his glove, McLemore never gained control of the ball, and the Mariners had their second run.

Fraser gave up a third run in the third inning--a solo home run by Phelps--and allowed a fourth in thesixth inning, again after two outs.

Rey Quinones’ single got things started. Then Fraser balked again, moving Quinones into position for Reynolds’ run-scoring single, coming on Fraser’s final pitch of the night.

Buice replaced Fraser at that juncture and struck out Fields to end the inning.

But with the Angels leading, 5-4, thanks to Bob Boone’s two-run single and run-scoring singles by Brian Downing and Devon White, Buice failed to protect it in the seventh inning. Mike Kingery opened the inning with a single, and Bradley followed with a triple down the right-field line, tying the game, 5-5.

Wynegar snapped the tie with his home run off reliever Edwin Nunez. It was Wynegar’s first home run as an Angel and his first since July 10, 1986, when he played for the New York Yankees.

So, this was no commonplace experience--Wynegar hitting a tiebreaking home run in the late innings. It was something for the Angels to savor--and for the bullpen to protect.

But it didn’t happen Saturday night. That’s because Presley got to face Moore with the game on the line.

And what happens in those confrontations is quickly becoming old hat.

Angel Notes

Angel Manager Cookie Rojas considered himself fortunate Saturday night to be able to mark both Johnny Ray and Devon White into the starting lineup. The previous night, Rojas cringed as he watched Ray and White collide on the warning track while chasing a drive off the bat of Seattle’s Dave Valle. “You don’t want to see two guys go down like that,” Rojas said. Especially when one, Ray, is playing with a sore right rib cage. “I was worried about both of them,” Rojas said. “What if you lose Devon White, too? We would have been in deep trouble.” Ray said he didn’t re-aggravate his rib injury, partly because White helped break his fall. “The ribs didn’t bother me at all,” Ray said. “I landed on the other side, my left side.” Rojas blamed the noise level in the enclosed Kingdome for the collision. “When you have so many people in the (outfield) stands yelling and you have two guys calling for the ball, sometimes it’s impossible to hear out there,” he said. . . . Catcher Bob Boone left Saturday’s game with a hyper-extended left knee suffered in a seventh-inning home plate collision with Scott Bradley. Boone said he felt all right after the game, but Butch Wynegar is expected to start today’s 1:30 series finale with the Mariners.