Tigers Use Their Long Suit to Beat Fraser, Angels, 6-1

Willie Fraser is the last Angel pitcher to defeat the Detroit Tigers. You could look it up. The date was April 27 and the score was 4-3, the only glitch on Detroit’s otherwise perfect 1988 record against the Angels.

So why the feeling of Angel dread that accompanied Fraser to the mound Saturday in his return visit to Tiger Stadium? Why the sense that every pitch was about to bring the hammer down upon the house of Cookie?

If there was something in the air, it was soon accompanied by baseballs--certifiably stung by Detroit bats. Darrell Evans’ second-inning home run provided the first confirmation. Then there was Pat Sheridan’s three-run home run in the third inning, followed one out later by Dave Bergman’s two-run home run.

The Tigers, who had sent 12 hitters to the plate in the second inning Friday night, sent nine more up there in the third inning Saturday. The result was another early blowout, another Detroit victory, this one by 6-1, which also doubles as the Tigers’ record against the Angels this season.

Fraser was no savior, but then no one in the Angel dugout really expected him to be. Manager Cookie Rojas would have gladly settled for five innings and a close ballgame, especially after Mike Witt’s 11-0 loss Friday night.

Sure, Fraser had April 27. And Bogart and Bergman had Paris. Memories can fade, just like 3-0 pitchers, which Fraser was, way back in the season’s first month.

Since then, Fraser has lost a mustache--and 8 of 10 decisions. His earned-run average has soared from 3.91 to 6.17. His record is 5-8.

Putting him in Tiger Stadium, with its short right-field dimensions, and pitting him against the Tigers, with their army of left-handed hitters, was to begin this game already down two strikes.

And strike three would soon be delivered by Detroit starter Jeff Robinson, whose two-hit, six-strikeout performance lifted his record to 9-3.

“Besides the domes, this is my toughest park to pitch in,” Fraser said. “This is not a good park for me. I give up a lot of fly balls, and this is not an ideal place to give up fly balls, especially to right field.”

Each of the home runs Fraser yielded went to right field. Sheridan’s bounced off the third deck. Bergman’s landed in the second deck. Evans’ traveled about 340 feet, but when the right-field fence stands just 325 feet from home plate, that’s enough to get the job done.

“Let’s face it,” Fraser said. “Evans’ ball would have been an out any other place. Bergman’s was questionable. Sheridan’s, there was no doubt about that one. He hit his ball well.”

But all three went into the books the same way, as home runs, leaving Fraser with a club-high 16 in 84 innings of work.

Noting this track record, a reporter asked Rojas if he considered holding Fraser out of this series and starting him instead in Toronto’s more expansive Exhibition Stadium.

“It’s his turn to pitch,” Rojas snapped. “What are you going to do? I’m not going to save pitchers to pitch in different parks.

“I have to keep running him out there. I don’t have any other starters. (Dan) Petry’s on the DL. I’ve got to go with what we’ve got, men.”

And Rojas kept Fraser out there, despite the Tigers’ five-run third inning and subsequent 6-0 lead. In the first three innings, Fraser surrendered 5 hits, 3 walks and a wild pitch, hit a batter and balked once.

“I used up my bullpen yesterday,” Rojas said. “After that one bad inning, I had to let him go. And the rest of the way, he pitched an outstanding game.”

Fraser lasted 7 innings. Over the final 4, he allowed just 2 hits, retiring 14 of the last 16 batters he faced.

Of course, by then, the Angels were staring at a lost cause. They certainly weren’t going to beat Robinson, considering that it took them 5 innings before they had their first hit.

That belonged to Brian Downing, who ruined Robinson’s shutout bid with a home run just inside the left-field foul pole. Ten consecutive outs later, Wally Joyner delivered Angel hit No. 2, a single to right field with two outs in the top of the ninth.

“When you get two hits and can’t score, what are you going to do?” Rojas said.

Robinson, who shut out the Angels, 6-0, April 26, said he benefited greatly from the big third inning.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Anytime you can pitch with a lead, you’re going to pitch differently. You don’t have to worry that one mistake or two mistakes are going to kill you.”

Said Angel catcher Darrell Miller, who didn’t hit the ball out of the infield in three at-bats against Robinson: “When he got that lead, he was completely free. He got to throw whatever he wanted during the last six innings.”

For that, Fraser blamed himself.

“Witter gave up 7 runs last night, and I give up 6 today,” Fraser said. “It’s tough to play when you’re down, 6-0, and you’ve only been up (to bat) once. Hopefully, this is just a short spell we’re going through right now.”

Today, the Angels’ Kirk McCaskill starts against Jack Morris. There will be more left-handed hitters in Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson’s lineup. And there will be the same short right-field fence.

The key to the game, Miller says, is simple.

“With these guys, if you keep them out of big innings, you’ve got a chance,” Miller said.

For precisely that reason, the Angels have had little chance during this go-round in Tiger Stadium.

Angel Notes

Detroit hasn’t been kind to Angel starting pitchers, both on and off the field. One day after Dan Petry had to abort a throwing session in the Angel bullpen because of a sprained ankle, winding up on the 15-day disabled list, Chuck Finley reported more swelling and pain in the left thumb he twisted during his last start Wednesday. “I tried to throw today, and I had trouble gripping the ball,” Finley said. “It’s hurting. If I have to pitch with it, I’ll be holding the ball differently and that’ll mess me up altogether.” Finley is tentatively scheduled to start Tuesday night at Toronto, but Cookie Rojas is considering starting Witt in his place to give Finley an extra day’s rest. Witt lasted just three innings in his start Friday night. “I’m looking to go Wednesday,” Finley said. “I’ve still got a couple more days. Maybe this thing will kick in tomorrow or Monday and I’ll be ready.” . . . Jeff Robinson’s two-hitter was a personal best and a match for the Tigers’ low-hit performance this season. Jack Morris also had a two-hitter. Robinson’s previous best was a five-hitter, something he has accomplished four times. . . . Robinson’s no-hit bid ended in the sixth inning, when Brian Downing hit his 10th home run. “I hung a breaking ball,” Robinson said. “I’m surprised he didn’t hit it farther than he did.” Downing, whose last home run came on June 7, wasn’t impressed, however. “I haven’t hit anything in the last month, that’s no secret,” Downing said. “I don’t know (Robinson) that much. I’ve only seen him in short relief once or twice, and I was on the DL when he faced us earlier this year. But, they all look like Cy Young to me lately.” . . . Dave Bergman’s two-run home run was his third this season--each coming against Angel pitching. Bergman also homered against Witt Friday night and against Willie Fraser April 27. . . . Pat Sheridan’s three-run home run gave him 10 home runs, a career best, and 32 RBIs. Most of those RBIs have come in bunches, too--17 in four games. Before Saturday, Sheridan had one 6-RBI game and two 4-RBI games. . . . The Angels are 4-15 against the Tigers since 1986. At Tiger Stadium, over the same span, they are 2-9.