Angels Are Done Before Shouting

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 and 1 double.

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

Angel Manager Cookie Rojas got 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, getting only a tad more mound time than Petry, surrendered seven 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 (5-9) 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 with a hyper-extended first inning.

Finley’s return, at a grimace:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 six innings and shut out the Angels on four hits.

Some comebacks go better than others.

Rojas was asked about Finley’s. Was the thumb still bothering him?

Rojas had to beg off that one.

“I didn’t last too long,” Rojas said. “I didn’t get the chance to ask too many questions.”

Finley had already showered, dressed and left by the game’s last out, so Rojas offered as much analysis as he could.

“He was too strong and he overthrew the ball,” Rojas said. “He made some very flat pitches, and they hit the hell out of ‘em. He didn’t change speeds well, and when he threw the curve, it was hanging.”

Before the game, Rojas said his biggest concern, after Finley’s long layoff, was the pitcher’s control. But control wasn’t Finley’s problem in the first inning. He threw many strikes--and Toronto bats struck many of them.

Musselman was hardly overpowering, striking out just one Angel in his six innings. 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 getting 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 ejected Rojas.

The Angels may be 8-2 in their last 10 games, but when they lose, they do it with authority. The scores of those defeats: 10-1 to Detroit Saturday and 12-2 to Toronto Monday, the latter setting the stage for yet another comeback.

Tonight, the Angels get to come back and try it again.

Angel Notes

After throwing one pitch in a simulated-game workout, Dan 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.” Rojas’ new rough estimate for Petry’s return to the rotation: early August.