It’s All Over Before Angels Make a Sound

Hours before the Angels’ 12-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays Monday night, Dan Petry tested his injured right ankle in a workout known as a simulated game. Some simulation. Petry threw one pitch and was through, the ankle throbbing just as it had the day he first twisted it.

Then, the real game began and Chuck Finley, the Angels’ other recuperating starting pitcher, stepped to the mound for the first time since June 29.

The Blue Jays scored 6 runs on 4 singles, 2 triples, a double.

Angel right fielder Chili Davis was ejected for disputing a third-strike call.

Angel Manager Cookie Rojas was ejected for disputing Chili Davis’ ejection.

Then, they played the second inning.

A lot happened to the Angels before the clock struck 8 Monday night--and none of it was good. Not only did two pitching comebacks turn into cameos, but the Angels lost their manager, their leading power hitter and, in essence, the game before the last car pulled into the Anaheim Stadium parking lot.

Finley (5-9), getting only a tad more mound time than Petry, surrendered 7 straight hits in the first inning. The Blue Jays parlayed them into a 6-0 lead. Two more Toronto runs crossed home plate in the third inning and Finley left, trailing, 8-0, after throwing just 59 pitches and recording just 8 outs.

This was Finley’s first start in nearly three weeks, the hiatus caused by a hyper-extended left thumb. Time healed the thumb enough for Finley to rejoin the rotation in time for the Angels’ series opener with Toronto.

The Blue Jays welcomed him back with a hyper-extended first inning.

Finley’s return, at a grimace:

--With one out, Lloyd Moseby singles to right field.

--George Bell slices a hit-and-run single behind Moseby. Runners on first and third.

--Kelly Gruber lines a double into the gap in left-center. Toronto leads, 2-0.

--Cecil Fielder triples under the glove of Davis in right. Toronto, 3-0.

--Manny Lee singles to right. Toronto, 4-0.

--Fred McGriff singles to right. Runners on first and second.

--Sil Campusano triples to left. The ball bounces off the fence, but the left leg of Angel left fielder Tony Armas goes through it, wedging Armas between the outfield wall and padding while Lee and McGriff score. Toronto, 6-0.

Armas finally frees himself--and so does Finley, retiring Sal Butera on a groundout and Tony Fernandez on an outfield fly to momentarily halt the assault.

The Blue Jays would go on to score 6 more runs by the end of the sixth inning, with Moseby hitting a two-run home run and Gruber a solo shot off Angel reliever Stewart Cliburn, making an easy winner of Jeff Musselman (1-0).

Musselman, in his first appearance since undergoing arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff last December, pitched 6 innings and shut out the Angels on 4 hits.

Some comebacks go better than others.

Musselman finished with just one strikeout, but it was a major one. When Davis was called out on a first-inning checked swing by home plate umpire Tim McClelland, it fueled a debate so heated that first base umpire Drew Coble was moved to throw both Davis and Rojas out of the game.

Coble became involved when Davis appeared to ask for a second opinion on McClelland’s call. Rojas strolled over to offer a third opinion and within seconds, Davis was being ejected and third base umpire Don Denkinger was squeezing himself between Rojas and Coble to keep that argument from escalating.

No use, though. Rojas screamed and ranted and pointed at Coble until Coble was again moved to action.

Yes, he tossed Cookie.

The rest of the Angels, however, had to stick around for eight more innings of agony. They fell behind, 8-0, when Finley yielded a sacrifice fly to Campusano and a run-scoring single to Butera in the third inning. Cliburn made it 9-0 by serving up a fifth-inning home run to McGriff. Then, it was 11-0, and 12-0, after the sixth-inning home runs by Moseby and Gruber.

The Angels’ only runs came in the eighth inning against Toronto reliever Jim Clancy, who got the first save of his 11-year major league career. Devon White singled and Brian Downing hit his 12th home run of the season, tying him with Davis for the club lead in that department.

So much for Angel highlights. The best Angel news of the night came one inning later, when Johnny Ray forced Doug Davis for the game’s final out.

Bring on tomorrow.

Angel Notes

Dan Petry’s latest step along the comeback trail was just that--one step. After throwing precisely one pitch in a simulated-game workout, Petry limped off the mound and refused to try another. “He made one pitch and felt the same thing he felt when he (first) hurt it,” Angel Manager Cookie Rojas said. “Same spot, same place. Now all we can do is hope he won’t be out for a long time.” Rojas admitted such thinking might be wishful, however. “He hasn’t pitched in 25 days--almost a month--and it’s still the same,” Rojas said. “We think it’s a ligament, and ligament (injuries) are worse than breaks.” Petry was to have his ankle reevaluated today and a new rehabilitative course planned. Rojas’ new rough estimate for Petry’s return to the starting rotation: early August.

What Have You Done For Me Lately?: DeWayne Buice, owner of 17 Angel saves in 1987, is now with the triple-A Edmonton club on rehabilitation assignment after missing a month with a hamstring injury. Terry Clark is 2-0 after throwing 8 scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers Sunday. Guess who’s belongings were hanging in Buice’s old locker before Monday’s game. “Start doing well and things happen,” Rojas quipped. Actually, Clark’s new locker location is telling. Mark McLemore is also on rehabilitation assignment, yet no one cleaned out his locker stall. Same thing when Donnie Moore tuned up in Palm Springs in early June. Rojas indicated that Buice could remain an Edmonton Trapper for a while. “It’s going to take him a while to get going. He hasn’t pitched in a month,” Rojas said. “It might take him a month to get ready, I don’t know.” And even then, Buice is guaranteed a quick return to the Angel bullpen, according to Rojas. “If everybody’s doing well, it’s going to be tough for him,” Rojas said.