Tigers Bring Angels Back to Reality, 10-1

Already, this seven-game winning streak by the Angels had stretched plausibility to its limits. In one week’s worth of games, sixth place gave way to fourth place and a deserving American League West also-ran moved up to the fringe of contention.

To ask for anything more was to definitely push it, particularly on this Saturday when:

--The Detroit Tigers, bidding for their second straight AL East championship, were again the opposition.

--Jeff Robinson, twice a winner over the Angels this season by scores of 6-0 and 6-1, started for the Tigers.

--Willie Fraser started for the Angels.

Even minor miracles know when to quit, and this one caved in about the fifth inning, when Fraser served up his obligatory home run pitch--and then another, for the benefit of an old teammate named Gary Pettis--to send the Tigers on their way to a 10-1 rout before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 30,082.

Fraser toyed with the unthinkable for four innings. Entering the game with a 6-8 record and a 5.71 earned-run average, he limited Detroit to one single and one walk. He took a 1-0 lead into the top of the fifth. He got leadoff hitter Darrell Evans to fly to center field for the first out.

Then, reality re-asserted itself.

Before Fraser could record the inning’s second out, five Tigers stepped up to home plate and five Tigers crossed home plate.

Luis Salazar and Dave Bergman singled. Matt Nokes homered, sending a 2-and-0 fastball over the right-field fence for his 11th home run. Ray Knight singled. And then Pettis, whose only 1987 home run with the Angels was an inside-the-park number, stroked Fraser’s first pitch over the 386-foot sign in right-center.

In 88 games with Detroit, Pettis has 3 home runs and 30 runs batted in. His best full-season totals with the Angels were 5 home runs and 58 RBIs. Last year with the Angels, he finished with 17 RBIs--in 394 at-bats.

By the time Fraser was through with the fifth inning, the Tigers led, 5-1, and Robinson was about to render the rest of the game meaningless. Robinson held the Angels to four singles through eight innings, teaming with reliever Guillermo (Once Willie) Hernandez for the victory.

Robinson is 11-3 with a 2.89 ERA this season. Against the Angels, he is 3-0 with an 0.69 ERA. In 26 innings against Robinson, the Angels have managed only 12 hits.

“I don’t think it’s just us,” Angel Manager Cookie Rojas said. “I think he’s been effective against the whole league. Robinson throws a pretty good fastball, he changes speeds with his curveball and he throws strikes. He’s always ahead of the hitters and that makes him more effective. He comes right at you.”

Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson, the Tigers’ renowned smoke-blower, said Robinson “may be the best forkball pitcher in baseball. He’s in the top five among the young guys in the league.”

Anderson also expects shortstop Alan Trammell to return from the disabled list in time to play today’s series finale.

“I think he’s the best player in baseball,” Anderson said.

No wonder the Angels have so much trouble with the Tigers.

They opened this series with consecutive wins over Detroit, but then, the winning pitchers were named Kirk McCaskill and Mike Witt. Fraser remains the weak link of the Angel rotation--a fact the Tigers compound with their armada of left-handed, fly-ball hitters.

“Everybody is going to have that one club they struggle against,” Fraser said, “and I’d have to say Detroit is one of my tougher teams. The first time I faced them this year, I walked seven guys and got a win out of it (4-3 on April 27). The next time (a 6-1 loss on July 2), I didn’t do that well. Two innings killed me.

“Today, I was pitching behind (in the count) all day. I did give up one hit in four innings, but I got away with a lot. In the fifth inning, I got behind Nokes again, 2 and 0, and it caught up to me. He just sat on a fastball.

A fluke? Not when Fraser is pitching. Pettis’ home run was the 20th allowed by Fraser in 1988, putting him on a pace to break Don Sutton’s Angel single-season record of 38, established just a year ago.

“I know I’m going to give ‘em up,” Fraser said matter-of-factly. “I gave up 26 of ‘em last year. I’m always around the plate, and I’m a fastball pitcher, so there’s going to be more chances to hit them out.

“The way I look at it, a one-run home run isn’t going to hurt me that much. It’s the two- and three-run home runs that tick you off. You start giving up three-run home runs and you’re not only hurting yourself, you’re hurting the club.”

Saturday, Fraser was stung for a three-run home run by Nokes and a two-run home run by Pettis--both in the same inning. And that’s the quickest way to turn a seven-game losing streak upside down.

Angel Notes

Once Willie Fraser was through with the fifth inning, Angel Manager Cookie Rojas turned the rest of the game into a bullpen exercise, calling on Sherman Corbett, Greg Minton, Stewart Cliburn and Donnie Moore to finish the last four innings. “We tried to get in some work for some people who haven’t pitched much lately,” Rojas said. Might as well not write off the afternoon as a total loss. Corbett pitched two scoreless innings and Minton added another before Cliburn opened the ninth inning, making his first appearance since straining a rib cage muscle July 8. Cliburn lasted two-thirds of an inning and surrendered 2 runs on 4 hits--one a home run by Lou Whitaker. He also balked home a run. “I thought he pitched pretty good,” Rojas maintained. “He had no problem with the ribs and no pain afterward. That was the important thing.”

A late-inning defensive switch by Sparky Anderson ultimately thwarted a potential rally by the Angels in the seventh. With one out and runners on first and second, Johnny Ray sliced a line drive just inside first base, headed for extra-base territory. But Ray Knight, who had just moved from third base to first in the middle of the inning, lunged to his left to snare the ball and tag first base, doubling up pinch-runner Doug Davis. Knight is right-handed, and Dave Bergman, the man he replaced, is left-handed, which made a world of difference according to Rojas. “A great play,” Rojas said. “If they hadn’t switched first baseman, I don’t think the left-hander would’ve caught the ball.”

The only run the Angels managed against Jeff Robinson was scored by Chili Davis in the second inning. Davis, starting at designated hitter because of his strained left knee, singled to lead off the second inning. He moved to third on a single by Jim Eppard and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tony Armas. . . . When Bob Boone singled off Robinson in the seventh inning, it extended his hitting streak to 11 games, two short of the longest of his career. Boone ended the day with a .289 batting average. . . . After pinch-running for Boone, Doug Davis made his major league debut at catcher. He caught two innings, including Detroit’s five-run ninth, and allowed a stolen base to Tom Brookens. He also ended the game by striking out against Guillermo Hernandez. . . . Rojas has named Chuck Finley as his starting pitching for Monday’s series opener with Toronto. It will mark Finley’s first start since June 29. Before the game, Dan Petry, the Angels’ other sidelined starting pitcher, is scheduled to test his sprained right ankle in a simulated game. . . . Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and American League president Bobby Brown were in attendance at Saturday’s game.