Angels Blow Lead in Ninth but Win in 10 : Howell Drives in Final Run in Opener Against White Sox

The Angels, baseball’s baddest road warriors these days, wheeled their show back into Anaheim Stadium for a twin bill Friday night. This is a team that has wreaked more havoc on the road than Mel Gibson, but hasn’t been very intimidating on its home turf.

Only three teams in the majors--the Dodgers, the Athletics and the Twins--have as many road victories (32), but the Angels came home to a most-unimpressive 23-28 record in their own park.

It took them 10 innings in the opener of Friday night’s doubleheader, and Manager Cookie Rojas almost swallowed his gum in the ninth, but the Angels rallied, and rallied again, to pull out a 6-5 victory.

The Angels, playing in their first doubleheader at the Big A since Sept. 22, 1986, looked as if they were going to break out of their home-bleak-home doldrums in the eighth inning when Brian Downing slugged a three-run homer to give the hosts and starter Mike Witt a 5-2 lead.

But it was a most short-lived advantage. The first four White Sox in the ninth singled and before Sherman Corbett, who relieved Bryan Harvey (who relieved Witt), got the final out the game was tied again, 5-5.

The Angels loaded the bases on three singles in the 10th and Wally Joyner scored the winning run when Jack Howell hit a sharp grounder off the glove of drawn-in first baseman Dan Pasqua.

Could this be the turning point? Have the Angels managed to bring a bit of their road magic back home?

“Magic? You can call it that,” Rojas said. “I call it playing good baseball.”

Rojas probably had some other words to describe his team’s play in the ninth, however.

Witt had allowed just five hits in the first eight innings and the two that chased him weren’t exactly line drives. Donnie Hill beat out a grounder to short and Ozzie Guillen looped a single to left. But Rojas decided Witt had “had enough,” and brought in Harvey. The rookie reliever yielded a single to Fred Manrique to load the bases and a two-run singled to Dave Gallagher that cut the Angels’ lead to 5-4.

Steve Lyons then hit a shot to Joyner that bounced off the first baseman’s glove. Joyner bounced on the ball and fired an ill-advised throw to third where Howell made a diving catch.

“If Joyner fields that ball, we might have had a double play,” Rojas said. “Then he made that throw, I almost swallowed my gum.”

Rojas probably was still choking when Harvey uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Manrique to come home with the tying run. Then the Angels got fortunate, when Dan Pasqua lined into a double play. Rojas went to Corbett, who struck out Daryl Boston for the final out.

Witt, who scattered seven hits in eight-plus innings, wasn’t exactly pleased with himself.

“The team comes up with three runs and it wasn’t exactly in my mind to give up two hits right away,” he said. “It’s nice to have the win for the team, but it’s a tough situation to give up a 5-2 lead and then end up burning through the bullpen.”

Witt was in the position to question his performance only because of Downing, whose 17th homer gave the Angels the three-run bulge. Ten of his 17 homers this season have either tied a game or put his club ahead and five have come in the seventh inning or later.

Devon White opened the eighth with a double and took third on Johnny Ray’s sacrifice. Joyner was walked intentionally and then Downing got all of starter Jack McDowell’s first pitch, sending a towering fly ball into the seats in left.

“I like to hit in those situations and I always have,” Downing said “I like to have the adrenaline flowing.”

The Angels didn’t appear to have much adrenaline flowing in the early innings, going quietly in the first five innings.

McDowell had a no-decision in last Sunday’s 7-5 Angel victory in Chicago, but he lasted just 3 inning and yielded five runs on five hits. Still, the 22-year-old right-hander had allowed just 19 earned runs in his last 10 starts before Friday for a 2.62 earned-run average over that span.

He held the Angels scoreless for five innings before allowing three hits and two runs, one of which was unearned, in the sixth.

Devon White and Johnny Ray opened the inning with singles to right, but White scored and Ray ended up on second when Harold Baines overran Ray’s hit. Joyner followed with a run-scoring single to center, but McDowell got Downing to pop up and Chili Davis to ground into a double play.

The first player who came to the plate on Friday evening’s baseball marathon--Chicago’s rookie center fielder Dave Gallagher--crossed it. He doubled to left, took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Baines’ single to center.

Witt retired the next nine White Sox hitters he faced, four via the strikeout, but Chicago gained a 2-0 advantage when Pasqua hit a long home run to right with one out in the fourth. It was Pasqua’s 25th career hit against the Angels and his eighth home run.

Angel Notes

Dan Petry, who has not pitched since June 20 when he sprained his right ankle coming off the mound to field a ball, threw for 20 minutes before Friday night’s doubleheader and said “everything went fine.” Petry, who thought he was recovering quickly but experienced the same pain again while pitching a simulated game three weeks ago, is scheduled to pitch another simulated game Monday. So how did the ankle feel Friday? “I’m not going to say anything except that we’re on target for what we’ve been aiming for and that’s Monday’s simulated game,” Petry said. “I just don’t want to think about anything beyond that. I wanted to come back so bad last time, I was so pumped up and excited, it was really a letdown when I hurt it again. I just don’t want to get that high this time.” Pitching coach Marcel Lachmann allowed himself a bit more optimism, though. “He threw very well and the ankle didn’t bother him much at all,” Lachmann said. “It was a good stint.”

Angels’ owner Gene Autry took one look around the room filled with media at the press conference to announce the signing of first-round draft choice Jim Abbott Friday and said, “This is the biggest crowd we’ve had since we signed Reggie (Jackson).” Part of the reason for the turnout was because the Angels called the press conference early Friday, but refused to reveal what it was about. Abbott certainly didn’t think it was that big a deal. “I’m happy to be with the Angels, it’s nice,” he said. “But I was more excited on draft day. This was kind of just a formality.” . . . Someone mentioned to General Manager Mike Port that there was considerable speculation the press conference had been called to announce a contract extension for Manager Cookie Rojas. Port smiled and said, “Our position in Cookie’s regard is that he is the manager of the club until he isn’t.”

Hot Fun in the Summertime: The Angels finished July with a club-record 19-8 mark, but they were outscored, 150-148, during the month. They were outscored, 65-15, in the eight losses, but were 7-1 in one-run decisions, 5-0 in two-run games and had eight come-from-behind victories.