At Last, Angels Get Out of Cellar : Boone Has 5 of Team’s 19 Hits; Davis’ Homer Wins It, 9-7

Chili Davis, who had the game-winning home run in the eighth inning, also had the word for the Angels’ 9-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals Friday night at Royals Stadium.

“Amazing,” he said.

It was 3 hours 46 minutes of amazing baseball, to be exact--one minute shy of equaling the longest nine-inning game in club history. For the Angels, it was certainly worth the time and effort, certainly a night worth savoring.

Consider what happened before a crowd of 33,236:

--The Angels, batting .241, amassed a season-high 19 hits to outscore the Royals, who entered the game with 6 straight victories and had won 13 of their last 14, coming off their second consecutive series sweep of the Oakland A’s.

--Bob Boone, batting .209 at game time, matched a career high with five hits, all singles. Boone’s other five-hit game was 11 years ago, in 1977, when his current manager, Cookie Rojas, was still playing second base for the Royals.

--Dick Schofield, batting .240 at game time, had four hits in five at-bats, also equaling a career-high.

--Devon White, 0 for 24 since returning from the disabled list June 10, finally broke through with two hits.

--The Angels, sentenced to last place in the American League West since May 9, used their third victory in four games to move past the Seattle Mariners into sixth place.

And . . .

“I didn’t make an error,” Davis said.

Yes, in a word, it was amazing.

“Sweet, sweet,” Davis kept saying as he looked up from his locker stall and, for the first time in more than a month, didn’t see a last-place team. “Let’s keep it rolling.”

Sixth place? Is that really such a big deal?

“Hell yes,” said Rojas, whose office had often resembled a bunker in recent weeks. “Any time you move out of the cellar, you’re making some progress. It’s good to see that, it’s good to see the club wake up.”

Before Friday, the Angels had managed to score more than five runs in just one of their previous 25 games--and needed 11 innings to do that. Four of the club’s previous five victories had come by scores of 1-0, 1-0, 3-0 and 3-0.

Friday, the Angels had five runs by the middle of the third inning.

But because of a ragged start by Willie Fraser (5 innings, 9 hits, 6 runs), the Angels were tied at 7-7 when they opened the eighth against Kansas City reliever Gene Garber.

Then Davis delivered his tie-breaking home run, his eighth of the season and his second in a week against Garber (0-3). The Angels added a run in the ninth and let Stewart Cliburn (2-0) finish it with his second inning of scoreless relief.

Reporters attempted to ask Davis about his home run and his rivalry with Garber, which dates to their National League days, but Davis didn’t want to discuss it much.

“The story isn’t here,” he said, waving his arm and pointing at teammates. “That guy (Boone) over there had five hits. This guy here (Schofield) had four hits. They’re the story tonight.”

Particularly Boone. When Boone someday retires, he’ll be remembered for his durability, his longevity, his Gold Glove and his throwing arm. His hitting will come as an afterthought.

But Friday, Boone raised his average nearly 30 points to .237. One single came on a roller to third base and another came on a well-placed squeeze bunt.

“They were a funny five hits,” Boone said. “I didn’t mash any of them. I got some breaks, but I’ll take them. The breaks never even out. Never .”

Boone laughed. At age 40, he has played in more than 2,000 big league games, and yet it took him until last Monday before he recorded his 100th career home run. Batting .195 at the time, Boone called the homer “getting the monkey off my back.”

“I know when I’m swinging the bat good, and it’s nice to have that feeling now,” Boone said. “The home run helped a lot. My last 50 at-bats before that, I wasn’t thinking about home runs--I was thinking about just getting a hit. I just wanted to touch the ball.”

Boone’s personal struggles at the plate have paralleled the Angels’ struggles in the AL West. Getting out of last place, like hitting the rare home run, can be a building block, Boone said.

“When you’re in the midst of a poor season, like we are, you start playing (mind) games with yourself,” Boone said. “It’s too long of a season to let yourself get buried mentally.

“You have to keep battling, and it means a lot to get over this first little hurdle. Get over this one and maybe we can get over another one. It’s not, ‘Wait till next year,’ yet. We can still do some things in this one. Let’s make some corrections now.”

Angel Notes

The Angels arrived in Kansas City with only 23 players, after DeWayne Buice was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday when he informed Manager Cookie Rojas that he had been trying to pitch with a sore left hamstring. “He told us (Thursday)) after the last game he pitched,” Rojas said. “It was bothering him for quite a while and that day, he really felt it.” Rojas wasn’t keen on the timing of Buice’s announcement, claiming Thursday was the first he had heard of the injury. Would he have preferred earlier notification? “No comment,” Rojas said. Then later, testily, he added: “If I’d known about it earlier, do you think I would’ve pitched him?” In his last outing, Buice allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in 1 inning, turning a 3-3 tie into a 6-3, 10-inning loss to Texas Wednesday night. Overall, Buice is 2-4 with a 5.11 ERA and 3 saves.

Mark McLemore underwent surgery Friday to remove a clotted vein extending from his right shoulder to elbow, believed to be the cause of his chronic arm problems. The operation, performed by Dr. John West at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, is expected to sideline McLemore for two to three weeks. Angel team physician, Dr. Jules Rasinski, said he expected McLemore to be released from the hospital today and begin rehabilitative therapy in a week to 10 days.

Jim Eppard replaced Wally Joyner in the starting lineup when Joyner’s stomach took a turn for the worse after the Angels’ team flight Thursday night. “He has the flu or a bug or something,” Rojas said. “Ask him what he ate on the plane last night. It might’ve been the salmon.” Or, quipped trainer Ned Bergert, it might have been all that partying for his birthday, which Joyner, 26, did Thursday. “Too much 7-Up,” Bergert said. Joyner eventually appeared as a defensive replacement at first base in the eighth inning.