Witt Gets First Shutout in Nearly 2 Years : It’s Only Orioles, but 5-0 Victory for Angels Still Counts in Win Column

It would be a tad premature to assume that all is right with the Angels on the merits of just one game. But a few things finally went right for them at Anaheim Stadium Saturday night.

The Angels defeated baseball’s losingest team, the Baltimore Orioles, 5-0, in front of 26,866, and there were a number of good omens.

Now they come with qualifiers, but when you’re 14 1/2 games out of first place, 10 games under .500 and have lost 5 of your last 7, well, you savor the little victories.

Good Omen: First and foremost, two-time All-Star Mike Witt, the erstwhile ace of the staff who hadn’t won in a month and a half, went the distance and picked up his first shutout in almost two years.

Qualifier: He beat a team with a lineup that is highlighted by four hitters who are batting .192 or less. Saturday marked the 26th time this season the Orioles have scored two runs or fewer, and they’ve been shut out 8 times.

Good Omen: The re-emergence of Wally Joyner as a run-producer. Joyner, who had just 16 RBIs in the Angels’ first 47 games, busted loose with 2 more Saturday.

Qualifier: Joyner went 0 for 4, and both runs he drove in scored from third when he managed to pull a bouncer to first with less than two out.

Good Omen: The Angels turned in a rare sparkling defensive effort, pulling off three inning-ending double plays.

Qualifier: It was Johnny Ray--playing second base in the absence of Mark McLemore--who had the best night in the field. He was the middle man on two double plays and made a nice play on a sharp grounder in the hole to start the third. He also made a leaping stab of a line drive to take a hit away from Joe Orsulak in the fifth inning.

Of course, Witt pulling out of a season-long nose-dive is the biggest factor from the Angels’ standpoint. But, as Baltimore Manager Frank Robinson is quick to point out, the Orioles are not the best yardstick to use for judging major league pitching. Their team batting average is baseball’s lowest.

“I really don’t want to take anything away from anybody,” Robinson says, “but it’s hard to judge how good a pitcher is against us.”

That’s not the way Angel Manager Cookie Rojas sees it, though. And, considering the number of times he sat in his office after a loss contemplating the bleak, it’s not hard to understand his optimism.

“That could have been the Yankees or anybody,” Rojas said. “With hitters like (Eddie) Murray, (Cal) Ripken and Freddie Lynn, that’s not an easy club to face. I don’t care how they’re going now, they’re still a difficult team to shut out.”

The last time Witt faced the Orioles, they beat the Angels, 8-7, at Memorial Stadium May 18. Witt walked 8 in 6 innings.

And he walked six more in his next (and most recent) outing, which ended in his fifth straight defeat, a 5-2 loss to New York.

Saturday night, Witt, who improved his record to 2-6 and picked up his third win in his last 20 starts, walked three and scattered seven hits. It was also his first win at home since Sept. 22 of last year.

“About three days ago, I told him I thought he was trying to be too fine,” Rojas said. “He was giving the hitters too much credit with the kind of stuff he has. I told him I thought he should stop nibbling.”

Witt was nibbling--or just plain missing--at the outset Saturday night. He opened the game by walking leadoff hitter Orsulak on four pitches. But he was getting ahead of most of the hitters, and the Orioles got runners to second base in just two innings and really only threatened in one.

The first three Baltimore batters in the third inning singled to load the bases, but the Orioles came away empty when Billy Ripken lined out to second and brother Cal grounded into a double play.

“I got results tonight,” Witt admitted, “but I didn’t really do anything different. You wouldn’t know it from my record or anything, but it’s not like I’ve been . . . every game.”

The Angels jumped on Baltimore starter Jose Bautista (2-3) and made the most of some early inning opportunities. In the first, Dick Schofield beat out a grounder to short, went to third on Ray’s single and scored when Joyner grounded to first. Ray scored on Brian Downing’s double to right.

The Angels chased Bautista in the third when Schofield singled to center, stole second and moved around to score on groundouts to first by Ray and Joyner. Bautista then hit Downing and gave up a single to Chili Davis. Robinson had seen enough.

“I just didn’t feel like leaving him out there,” Robinson said. “I didn’t think it was a game where we were going to score too many runs.”

Davis and Ray combined to provide an even bigger cushion in the eighth. Ray singled to right, and Davis homered to right.

“I’d venture to say this was the first time (Witt) had a lead,” catcher Bob Boone said. “I think he’s been pitching from behind during this whole funk. He had a live fastball, and his curve came around in the middle innings. He was around the plate all night, but I think the lead was the biggest factor. With a cushion, you’re able to trust your stuff.”

The Angels haven’t had the right stuff often this season, but Rojas liked what he saw on this evening.

“We’ve had our problems and, honestly, we haven’t played very good ball a lot of times,” he said. “But everyone contributed tonight; we got good pitching, timely hitting and good defense all on the same night. We executed tonight.”

It was only one victory, but it was a step in the right direction. OK, a small step.