Clark Is 7-1 Victor in Debut as Angel

If a phone call to Edmonton was all it took to solve every Angel problem, Cookie Rojas would have a winning record today, and Junior Noboa, Chico Walker and Jack Lazorko would not have already been returned to sender.

There are bargains, and there are busts, but Edmonton has mostly been an unreliable source of baseball talent during the dry summer of ’88. Thanks for nothing, Canada. Sure, Bryan Harvey has helped, but where’s a starting pitcher--or two or three--when you really need them?

Well, Lazorko has come and gone, but following him Thursday night was Terry Clark, the lastest in temporary pitching help, a 10-year minor league veteran who was called upon to bail out an Angel starting rotation minus two regulars, Dan Petry and Chuck Finley.

Clark may not remain an Angel for long but if he is to leave, he’ll do so with something he never had before--a major league victory.

Working five innings, Clark took advantage of some Angel offense and the relief work of Greg Minton to post a 7-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Municipal Stadium.

Clark surrendered a hit to the first batter he faced and a run in the first inning he pitched but collected himself and completed the next four innings without a run. Rojas then brought on Minton, and four innings later, Clark had a baseball for his trophy case.

More than that, Thad Bosley, who joined Clark on the Edmonton shuttle, took his first Angel swing of 1988 and lined it to right field for the 70th pinch-hit of his career and his first big league RBI since May 3.

The Angel farm system lives . . . at least for one muggy, gnat-infested Cleveland night.

“I think we’re both very fortunate to be in the major leagues,” Bosley said matter-of-factly. “It feels good just to be able to help.”

Before Clark could help, however, he had to contend with some serious ribbing by Minton, who made sure Clark didn’t forget the tenure of his predecessor, Lazorko--eight days, two starts and one ticket on Air Canada.

“Minton teased me--’If you don’t throw good tonight, you’re not going to stay here,’ ” Clark said with a grin. “He was joking around, but I knew I had to do good right away.”

The essence of the moment hung over Clark in the first inning, and he looked like any other 27-year-old who had endured a decade of minor league hotels and fast-food just to get this opportunity.

He gave up a bloop single to Julio Franco, Cleveland’s first hitter of the game.

He gave up a ground-ball single to Terry Francona, Cleveland’s second hitter, allowing Franco to reach third base.

The first out Clark recorded--Joe Carter forcing Francona--brought home the run, and it was 1-0.

“I was nervous,” he said. “The adrenaline was pumping real hard . . . But the first run made me bear down more. They had a run, but they hadn’t hit a ball hard yet. It got me to thinking that maybe this wasn’t so different from triple-A.”

Catcher Bob Boone assisted Clark out of the inning by throwing out Carter on an attempted steal before Cory Snyder was retiredon a fly to shallow right field.

After that, Clark allowed two singles in the second inning but escaped with a double-play grounder. He retired 10 of the last 11 Indians he faced.

“That’s a tough way to break in,” Boone said. “The first hit is a jam (off the fists), and they come around and score. But I thought he handled himself fine.”

With Wally Joyner delivering a two-run home run and Devon White singling home a run, the Angels built a 4-1 lead for Clark by the fourth inning. After the fifth, Rojas turned that lead over to Minton, whose four innings of one-hit relief earned him his second save.

Rojas cited a number of reasons for this.

“The guy hasn’t been around here too long,” Rojas said of Clark. “He had a bad cold, he flew in from Canada, it was humid like hell. After five innings, I told Marcel (Lachemann, Angel pitching coach), ‘Let’s get someone loose.’

“This kid doesn’t know that team (the Indians) that well. He doesn’t know any team that well. I don’t want to get in the situation where he can lose when I have a veteran pitcher available. I wanted to give him some confidence--’Hey, I won a (major league) game after 10 years in the minor leagues.’ ”

Minton delivered, and Clark had his game ball.

He admits he doesn’t know what’s coming next. The All-Star break is three days hence and after that, Finley or Petry--or both--may be ready to rejoin the rotation.

“It’s not up to me,” Clark said. “I can just do as well as I can and let what happens happen.

“This is a little bit of a relief, though. If you don’t pitch well coming up here, you know they won’t have any plans for you. Pitch well and maybe they start thinking they shouldn’t send you back to triple-A.”

Rojas, for the time being, is leaving the door open--if only a crack.

“I don’t know about the future,” he said diplomatically. “Sometimes, you find a guy who’s throwing strikes and you find a spot for him, wherever. If you wind up with 15 pitchers and all of them are doing well, that’s a hell of a problem to have.”

Thursday night, the Angels discovered one more. That’s all they had asked of Edmonton in the first place.

Angel Notes

Cookie Rojas can answer questions about Thad Bosley’s future as an Angel with greater ease. “I think he’s going to help this ballclub tremendously,” Rojas said. “As soon as he was released by Kansas City, I said, ‘Let’s get him.’ Now, we have a little more flexibility. We have a lot better bench.” Right now, though, Rojas is breaking in Bosley with care. Immediately following Bosley’s run-scoring single off John Farrell, Rojas lifted him for pinch-runner George Hendrick because, he claimed, Bosley’s hamstring is still tender. Bosley tore the hamstring in April when he was still with the Royals. “He’s not 100% yet,” Rojas said. “He’s still got a little twinge in his leg.” Said Bosley: “Cookie’s bringing me along slowly, and I’ve got to appreciate that. He’s getting me acclimated again to major league baseball. When Thad Bosley’s 100%, Thad Bosley can do a lot of things to help this team.”

Rojas had an animated discussion with Darrell Miller on the bench before Thursday night’s game. Miller strained ligaments in his right knee Monday, rested Tuesday and caught 10 innings Wednesday--which Rojas believes may have been pushing it. He held Miller out of the lineup Thursday and indicated he would use the catcher-outfielder sparingly through the All-Star break. “He wasn’t running at full speed after he came back,” Rojas said. “He looked a little stiff. Anybody who’s hurt, it’s hard for him to come to me and tell me he can’t play. (But) I’ve got a ballclub to run. If I have a player hurt, I’ve got to replace him. If a doctor says he can’t play, I’m going to do what the doctor tells me.” Rojas said he planned to have Angel doctors examine Miller’s knee when the club returned home next week.

Rojas also gave shortstop Dick Schofield the night off--his first of the season. “Schofield came up a little stiff in the shoulder after his (tumbling) slide in Toronto (Wednesday night),” Rojas said, “so I gave him the day off. He’s due for one, anyway.” Schofield had played in each of the Angels’ first 83 games.”