McCaskill, Angels Fall to Seattle : Langston Wins Pitching Duel With 4-3 Mariner Victory

Five days after turning Seattle’s Kingdome into the world’s largest pinball machine, Mark Langston and Kirk McCaskill tried it again Monday night and, finally, they got it right.

This time, Langston and McCaskill squared off to a seven-inning standoff, a 3-3 tie finally broken by Jay Buhner’s two-out single in the top of the eighth, helping Langston and the Seattle Mariners to a 4-3 victory over the Angels in front of 23,506 in Anaheim Stadium.

Last time, McCaskill and Langston, supposedly two of the American League’s brightest young starting pitchers, did little more than tee up batting practice. McCaskill faced all of 11 batters and gave up 7 runs. Langston blew a 7-2 lead, failed to make it out of the sixth inning and, like McCaskill, wound up with no decision.

The Mariners won that game, 8-7, on Steve Balboni’s ninth-inning home run against Angel reliever Bryan Harvey.

The rematch was more like it: Langston (8-9) limiting the Angels to four hits in eight innings, McCaskill (8-6) hanging tough for 7 innings and 145 pitches after failing to see the light of the fourth inning in each of his last two starts.

Those starts, in review:

--July 30, at Chicago: McCaskill lasts 2-plus innings, allows 8 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks. Gets no decision as Angels win, 15-14.

--Aug. 3, at Seattle: McCaskill lasts one-plus inning, allows 7 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks.

“Those last two were the most embarrassing two starts of my career,” McCaskill said. “I don’t think I’m where I want to be yet, but this was a big step tonight. This was a big improvement.”

The 145 pitches McCaskill threw Monday were the most since his arthroscopic elbow surgery in April of 1987.

“I’m sure I’ll feel it tomorrow,” McCaskill said.

For 144 pitches, however, McCaskill had battled Langston to a 3-3 tie. But with pinch-runner Darnell Coles on third base, McCaskill surrendered a single to Buhner, giving the Mariners the run they needed to beat the Angels for the second time in as many meetings.

The loss, coming after Sunday’s defeat against the Chicago White Sox, marked the first time the Angels have lost back-to-back games since July 18-19.

And this one came complete with a little ninth-inning controversy, to boot.

Through eight innings, the entire Angel offense against Langston had consisted of two singles by George Hendrick and a double and a home run by Tony Armas. In the fifth inning, Hendrick singled and Armas doubled him home. In the seventh inning, Hendrick singled and scored ahead of Armas’ seventh home run of the season.

Langston is left-handed, Hendrick and Armas bat right-handed and, in the middle of the ninth inning, Seattle Manager Jim Snyder switched pitchers. Out went Langston and in came Mike Schooler, a right-handed rookie.

Angel Manager Cookie Rojas, who has been known to flaunt The Book on occasion, instead stuck to it, every comma and every period, in the ninth.

With Chili Davis on first with two outs, Rojas batted left-hander Wally Joyner for Hendrick.

Joyner hit a single to center.

With Davis on second base, representing the tying run, Rojas batted left-hander Jim Eppard for Armas.

Eppard flied to right for the final out.

Armas had hit the ball hard in each of his three previous at-bats, hitting to deep fly ball to left field in the second inning. Do you play the percentages, responding to a pitching change, or do you stay with a hot hitter?

Rojas played the percentages. And lost.

“I have nothing to say about that,” Armas said. “I just play the game. He’s the manager. I would have liked to have another shot, but he’s the manager.”

Armas and Eppard faced Schooler last Wednesday in Seattle. Both batted against him in the eighth inning. Both singled.

“I know Schooler from winter ball,” Armas said. “I’ve faced him three times, once in spring training, and got a hit off him twice.”

Rojas, however, claimed to never deliberate on the decision.

“I had my mind made up that Eppard was going to hit for him all along,” Rojas said. “Armas would have hit if Langston stayed in there.”

Rojas preferred to second-guess the pinch-hit decision that worked, Joyner-for-Hendrick.

“Should I have let Hendrick hit?” Rojas demanded.

Eppard said he wasn’t surprised to get the call, but admitted, “I never really thought about (Armas) having such a great night . . . “I felt I had a pretty good at-bat. I put the ball in play. I got a little bit under it, but if I’d hit in on line, that ball’s in and both runs score.”

The world will never know what Armas might have done against Schooler.

“I can’t say nothing about it,” Armas said.

“That’s baseball,” Eppard said.

Angel Notes

Dan Petry’s second attempt at a simulated-game workout went off without a hitch Monday as the Angel pitcher threw 61 pitches--or, roughly, the equivalent of four innings. That’s 60 more pitches than Petry managed during his last simulated game, a July 18 outing that was aborted after Petry re-injured his right ankle on the first pitch. “There were no problems this time,” said a relieved Marcel Lachemann, the Angels’ pitching coach. “He looked very good.” Added Manager Cookie Rojas: “Most of his pitches were around 89-90 (m.p.h.) and he was throwing to spots. It went very well.” Rojas said the next step for Petry will be a rehabilitative assignment in Palm Springs, with the pitcher tentatively scheduled to make at least two starts for the Angels’ Class-A team this Saturday and next Thursday. The Angels have targeted Petry’s return to the rotation for their next home stand, which begins Aug. 26. “He probably won’t be activated until the end of the month,” Rojas said. “We want him to pitch in Palm Springs and then see if we can have him when we come back (from the road). After two months of not pitching, he can’t return right away. It’s better for him to pitch a couple times down there for five innings or so and then come back and be able to give us six strong innings.”

Relief pitcher Donnie Moore was unavailable to pitch Monday after bruising the ring finger of his right hand while attempting to field a grounder off the bat of Chicago White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk Sunday. Moore is listed on a day-to-day basis. . . . Err Today, Start Tomorrow: Backup catcher Darrell Miller made the throwing error that paved the Angels’ way to Sunday’s 6-3 defeat to the White Sox, but he was back in the starting lineup Monday night. The reasoning, according to Rojas, was to rest regular catcher Bob Boone--and to resuscitate Miller’s confidence. “Just because of one mistake, I’m not going to sacrifice him,” Rojas said. “He’s got to forget what happened yesterday. Today’s another day.” Miller responded by throwing out two potential base stealers, Harold Reynolds and Jim Presley, during the first five innings.