Witt Gives Up Only Six Hits and Still Loses

One thousand of Orange County’s best junior high school students were in attendance at Anaheim Stadium Friday evening. Down on the field, however, it was definitely underachievers’ night.

Two former All-Stars, who have lost their winning ways, took the mound, trying to end losing streaks for their slumping teams. Mike Witt and Dave Stieb had recorded just 5 victories between them in their last 32 outings.

When your ace is in that kind of a hole, it can make for a long season, and as a result, the Angels and the Blue Jays are far from living up to preseason expectations. Both teams are hovering just above the cellar in their respective divisions after a disappointing first month.

Somebody had to win this one, though, and it was Stieb and the Blue Jays who hung on for a 3-2 victory before 29,237 fans. Witt may have turned in the more impressive pitching performance, but it was Stieb who had the extra run that evened his record at 3-3.

Witt went the distance, striking out 7 and allowing just 6 hits, but he fell to 1-4. Stieb went 6 innings, walked 5, struck out 5 and allowed both runs on 4 hits. But David Wells and Tom Henke, who got the save, blanked the Angels the rest of the way.

Toronto picked up its third victory in the last 12 games. The Angels, who had the bases loaded with one out in the first inning but scored only once, have lost five of their last six.

“It’s not much fun watching us leave the bases loaded in the first, and it’s not much fun watching us waste a pitching performance like that,” General Manager Mike Port said. “It’s getting to be like a bad horror movie. We’ve seen it in slow motion, fast forward and reverse, and the outcome is always the same.”

Witt has been struggling since the final two months of last season, but he hit a definite low point last Sunday when he started against the Blue Jays in Toronto . . . and was finished very soon thereafter. He lasted just 3 innings, giving up 8 hits, and Toronto was leading, 6-0, when Manager Cookie Rojas removed him in the fourth.

Friday night, he looked a great deal more like the Witt who pitched into the seventh inning 28 times last season.

“That was more like the same old Mike Witt we know,” Rojas said. “He had good control, good command, and he was going right after the hitters. Witt was the only bright spot on this night, though.”

The Angels learned just before game time that center fielder Devon White’s sore right knee would require arthroscopic surgery. He will undergo surgery today and will probably miss six to eight weeks.

“It’s a shock,” Rojas said. “More bad news.”

Witt, for a change, was the only good news.

“I shouldn’t have to be one of the guys he (Rojas) has to worry about,” Witt said. “I always go into the season thinking I’ll be the last guy he has to worry about.

“I don’t think it’s a big story that I went nine innings and gave up three runs. That’s the way I should have been pitching all along.”

He allowed just two hits--one of which was a solo homer by Fred McGriff--in the first four innings and faced one batter more than the minimum.

He ran into trouble in the fifth, an inning that has caused him considerable grief all year. Ernie Whitt drew a one-out walk, Jesse Barfield grounded a single into left, and Kelly Gruber hit a fly-ball double into the gap in right-center that rolled to the wall and was good for two RBIs.

Witt has allowed 11 runs in the fifth this season, almost twice as many as in any other inning.

In the seventh, he got a defensive assist from Tony Armas, who was filling in for White in center field. McGriff opened the inning with a double to left, and Armas jumped and reached over the fence in right-center to rob Whitt of a two-run homer. Witt got the next two batters on pop flies and escaped the inning unscathed.

Still, the Angels trailed when they easily could have had a lead if they had been able to take advantage of Stieb’s shaky start. As it was, they got the absolute minimum out of three first-inning walks and a single.

“The first inning was the whole game,” Rojas said. “We have Stieb on the ropes and we can’t get the hit to break it open. That’s just the way it’s gone for us lately.”

Mark McLemore and Brian Downing walked to open the inning, and Wally Joyner delivered an RBI single to right. One out later, Stieb walked Johnny Ray to load the bases, but Jack Howell (strikeout) and Armas (pop-up) failed to get another run across.

McGriff tied it up--with much less ado--in the second, stroking a line drive to left center that cleared the 386 sign and bounced into the second deck on one hop. Armas could only stand and watch this one sail out.

The Angels went ahead, 2-1, in their half of the second. Bob Boone led off with a single to right and was forced by Dick Schofield. Schofield then stole second and scored on McLemore’s single to right.

The Angels had runners on first and second with one out in the seventh, but Wells came in and got Joyner to ground into a double play. Henke retired all six Angels he faced.

Someone asked Rojas if he had reached the point where he was thinking about taking different routes to the ballpark in hopes of changing his luck.

“Yeah,” he said. “I think I’ll go through Tijuana. They’ve got that tequila down there with the worm in it, don’t they? I’m ready for the . . . worm.”

Angel Notes

Ken Landreaux, who was released by the Dodgers last winter, was a pregame visitor in the Angel clubhouse Friday, sparking speculation that the Angels might be looking at him as a possible left-handed pinch-hitter to replace Bill Buckner, who was put on waivers Friday. Landreaux shook some hands and visited briefly with General Manager Mike Port. Manager Cookie Rojas said Landreaux was looking for a job, but also said signing the former Dodger outfielder was “out of the question. He’s been out of baseball since last year. He would have to go down (to the minors) and get his swing back.”

Port conceded the Angels need another left-handed hitter and said he is always exploring trade possibilities. He even hinted that further roster moves might be imminent. But he also insisted there was no need to panic. “This team hasn’t been able to put it together yet, but it’s not that we don’t have ability,” Port said. “It’s just that we haven’t played up to our ability. Can we use help? Yes. Still, on balance, there’s a lot to like on this ballclub. We just have to get going in the right direction.”