Ray Stays Hot; Finley Goes 9 in Angel Win

American League pitchers aren’t the only ones who can’t figure out Johnny Ray. Neither can Devon White, who stands as Ray’s closest teammate, at least when both are playing in the outfield.

“The man is hitting .900 --he just swings the bat and he keeps getting hits--and it’s like nothing to him,” said White, who watched Ray slap three more singles and drive in another run during the Angels’ 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday.

“Like today. He gets two hits in his first three at-bats and look at him. We’re playing catch in the outfield, and he’s like this (White frowns, rolls his eyes and makes a lazy lobbing motion with his arm).”

White, batting .250, can’t stand it.

“Show some energy out there,” White says of Ray. “But that’s how he is--and he’s the same way all the time. To us, we’re thinking, ‘This guy’s going great.’ But to him, it’s just the same old thing.”

White is right. Ray may rank as the least-excited human currently batting .438, a man whose life philosophy seems to be: Go With The Pitch. . . . And Then Go With the Flow.

Ray has just completed one tremendous month of hitting. He has 30 hits in his last 56 at-bats (a .536 average), he leads the American League in total hits (35) and doubles and leads the Angels in RBIs with 19. As he begins May, Ray brings a 14-game hitting streak with him, a streak that equals a personal best.

“Just another month,” Ray says. “There’s six or seven more to go. Just keep playing.”

Is Ray enjoying any of this?

“At the end of the season, I’ll look back,” he said. “Can’t worry about that now. I have to finish the season and finish strong.”

Somehow, Ray made it through the questions without yawning.

But if Ray comes up lacking in the high-five and exclamation-point department, there is reason for it. Before coming to the Angels last August, Ray spent six years with the Pittsburgh Pirates--years usually spent by the Pirates in some nether-world between the National League and the American Assn.

“Ask Tony Gwynn how it feels to bat .370 and finish last in your division,” Ray said. “No matter what you hit, you can’t be happy if you lose.”

The Angels haven’t been winning lately, either, although Ray’s spirits had to be heightened by what he saw Saturday. For the first time since April 15, the Angels won back-to-back games. And, for the first time since June 21, 1987, an Angel left-hander pitched a complete-game victory.

Equaling a feat last achieved by Jerry Reuss, Chuck Finley worked nine innings to beat the Blue Jays before 29,091 at Exhibition Stadium. For Toronto, this was nothing new; the Blue Jays have lost six straight games. But for Finley, this was altogether new--the first complete game of his major league career.

And Finley (2-3) earned it by limiting the Blue Jays to 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk. The only run he allowed came on a double-play grounder by Cecil Fielder in the second inning.

“This is a big complete game for us--and for him,” Angel Manager Cookie Rojas said. “This wasn’t an easy team for him to beat. Toronto is one of the best in the league.

“Finley’s got to feel good. Now, he knows he belongs.”

Before this season, Finley had had his doubts. He occupied his first two years in the major leagues on the fringe of the Angel roster, pitching mainly in mop-up relief while winning just 5 times in 60 appearances.

“I haven’t been walking off the field at the end of the game with a ‘W’ very often,” Finley said. “Today, I walked off knowing I pitched a great game. I started and finished it up.”

Finley had come close in his previous three starts, two of which lasting 8-plus innings. In the other, he worked 7 innings.

“I’d been knocking on the door and not opening it up,” Finley said.

Equally frustrating for Finley had been the sporadic offensive support he was receiving. Two of Finley’s losses came via scores of 2-1 and 4-2.

And he seemed headed for another crusher in Toronto, taking a 1-1 tie with John Cerutti into the eighth inning. To that point, White’s home run in the fourth inning had been the extent of the Angels’ run production.

At last, a breakthrough in the eighth.

Bob Boone singled with one out, and Junior Noboa, running for Boone, advanced to second on an infield out. From there, Noboa broke the tie on Mark McLemore’s single over shortstop.

There it was. A 2-1 lead for Finley.

“The way I was throwing the ball, moving it in and out around the plate, one run probably would’ve been enough,” Finley said.

But when four more Angel runners crossed home plate in the top of the ninth, Finley didn’t argue.

“More runs make it so much easier,” he said with a sigh. “Then I can go, ‘Here’s the pitch--hit it.’ I don’t have to be cute anymore.”

Ray helped make life simpler for Finley, singling home the first run of the ninth inning with the bases loaded. More insurance was provided by pinch-hitter Bill Buckner (RBI single), Jack Howell (RBI infield single) and Butch Wynegar (sacrifice fly).

By then, the Angels had scored six runs--matching their total output during Finley’s three defeats.

This was one of those rare occasions where Angel pitching congealed with Angel hitting, where the defense didn’t lapse and where no amount of Angel effort went to waste.

It was almost enough to make a man named Johnny Ray hop for joy.

Angel Notes

Toronto Manager Jimy Williams set himself up for some second-guessing in the ninth inning when, with Angel runners on second and third with no outs, he instructed pitcher David Wells to intentionally walk Chili Davis--with Johnny Ray on deck. Then he sent right-handed reliever Mark Eichhorn to pitch to Ray with the bases loaded. Ray singled to left to start a 4-run inning. Had Williams blown it by walking Davis to get to Ray, the league’s hottest hitter? The Angels didn’t think so. “What (Williams) was trying to do was get the double play to home plate,” Angel Manager Cookie Rojas said. “Regardless of the hitter, that’s what you do. You can’t play back, pitch to (Davis) and give up a run.” Added Davis: “He was just playing for the force. Get a ground ball and get somebody out at home. In a situation like that, you’ve got to load the bases and play it that way. But that’s what having switch-hitters batting behind each other (both Davis and Ray switch-hit) will do for you. The other team can’t flip-flop pitchers on you.”

Chuck Finley’s complete-game victory was the third by an Angel left-hander since Sept. 19, 1985--or, a span of 363 games. The others: John Candelaria in 1985 and Jerry Reuss in 1987. . . . Finley, on his recent lack of support: “It doesn’t do no good to look back at that. All it’s going to do is tick you off or make you sick to your stomach.”

Devon White’s fourth-inning home run was his second of the season, accounting for his second RBI since April 16. He collected it batting second in Rojas’ lineup after beginning the trip hitting in the No. 7 position. “It doesn’t bother me to hit seventh,” White said. “If I’m hitting .220 and haven’t driven in a run in two weeks, what can I say? So you bat Devon White seventh--you’ve got to hide him somewhere. Seventh is still a good RBI spot. If I start swinging the bat again, I might move up.” . . . Bill Buckner’s RBI single was his third hit in five at-bats as a pinch-hitter. All seven of his RBIs have come in that role. As a designated hitter, Buckner is batting .160 (4 for 25) with no RBIs.