Fraser Gives Up 5 Home Runs, but Angels Bail Him Out, 15-6

A win is a win is a win is a win? If you believe that, you obviously haven’t checked out Angel pitcher Wille Fraser lately.

Last Wednesday: Fraser holds the Seattle Mariners hitless for six innings, is squeezed for a solo home run in the seventh and winds up with the first one-hitter of his major league career.

Angels win, 2-1.

Tuesday night: Fraser works 6 innings against the New York Yankees. He serves up home runs to Claudell Washington, Don Mattingly, Mattingly again, Dave Winfield and Randy Velarde--establishing a single-game Angel record for home runs allowed with five.

Angels win, 15-6.

This is what is known as picking one’s spots. Or, as Angel designated hitter Brian Downing put it: “If you got to give ‘em up, tonight certainly was the right time.”

Fraser gave ‘em up, all right. Back-to-back home runs to Washington and Mattingly in the fourth inning. Another home run to Mattingly in the sixth inning, giving Mattingly his first two-homer game of the season. Another home run to Winfield two batters later. And a final home run to Velarde--who was recalled just 24 hours earlier from triple-A Columbus--on Fraser’s final pitch of the night.

By the time Angel Manager Cookie Rojas put an end to the shelling--”Hope and Glory” was nothing like this--Fraser had tied Seattle’s Mark Langston for the American League leadership in home runs allowed (30) and had lifted an already bloated earned-run average from 5.67 to 5.80.

He also improved his record to 9-11, tying him with Mike Witt for most victories on the staff.

Pitching coach Marcel Lachemann, in perhaps the most diplomatic statement of his career, assessed Fraser’s performance this way:

“He pitched an efficient game.”

Efficiency made easy, the Angel way:

--Downing hits a two-run home run off Rick Rhoden in the first inning, his fifth home run in Yankee Stadium this season and his fourth in his last 10 at-bats there.

--The Angels score two more runs in the second inning and knock Rhoden out of the game after just four outs.

--The Angels score seven more runs off Lee Guetterman and Neil Allen in the third. They have 11 runs and 14 hits before they make their ninth out of the night.

--Wally Joyner hits a two-run home run in the eighth inning, giving him 5 RBIs for the evening.

--Mark McLemore, just back from Edmonton, hits his second double in as many at-bats, driving in two final runs in the ninth inning. The 15 runs are the most ever scored against the Yankees by the Angels.

What was that about Fraser allowing five home runs?

“I accomplished three things tonight,” Fraser proclaimed.

“One, I got a win.

“Two, I probably got the league lead in home runs.

“And three, I set the Angel record for most home runs in a game.”

Fraser shrugged and laughed.

“Five home runs? I’m sure I’ll be mad about it tonight and tomorrow. But I’ll take the win. . . .

“I was kicking myself in here after I came out. But after the game, I looked at some of the guys coming in and they were laughing about it. Like a few of them told me, I picked a good night to do it.”

Said Rojas: “You give me 14 or 15 runs every day, and I don’t care if you give up five or six home runs.

“I told (Fraser) to throw strikes. I don’t want him pitching around people and walking guys with an 11-run lead. I told him ‘Throw strikes. I don’t care how many home runs you give up.’

“So the home runs may have been my fault.”

Fraser, a New York native, had an entourage of more than 30 friends and relatives in the stands Tuesday. For a while, he seemed intent having each of them leave with a personalized souvenir.

“I’m going home tonight,” Fraser said, “and I’m sure I’ll get plenty of ribbing. You just have to take it in stride.”

Tuesday, Fraser helped bail himself out with a pair of defensive plays in the first inning.

He tagged Rickey Henderson out at home plate after a collision with catcher Bob Boone sent Henderson sprawling without touching the plate. Backing up the play, Fraser caught center fielder Devon White’s relay and slapped the tag on Henderson.

Then Fraser ended the inning by getting Jack Clark to hit a foul pop fly that began to tail toward the Yankee dugout. Fraser gave chase and dove head-first to snare the ball--just before tumbling over the dugout steps.

Lachemann was duly impressed.

“He’s somebody who works his butt off,” Lachemann said. “He makes the play at the plate in the first inning. He dives into the dugout to catch a ball.

“I see that kind of effort and I’ll go to the wall for that kid.”

Lachemann paused.

“I guess I’ve gone over the wall for him,” he said with a smile.

So, too, have a good many baseballs.

Angel Notes

Mark McLemore, the Angels’ starting second baseman for the first two months of the season, rejoined the club Tuesday with a new designation: utility player. “Since they sent (Gus) Polidor down, it looks like I’m it,” said McLemore, who has spent the last 2 1/2 months either on the disabled list or in the minor leagues. Said Angel Manager Cookie Rojas: “I’m definitely not taking Johnny Ray out of second base. He’s done a hell of a job there. I told McLemore, ‘Your role will be to fill in at second, short and third.’ He can pinch-hit, pinch-run, switch-hit, steal a base, come in (defensively) in the late innings.” McLemore would prefer doing a lot more and remains rankled over the fact that he lost his job, basically, by getting injured. “I think I did pretty good while I played--and things were getting better as time went on,” said McLemore, who batted .251 with 7 RBIs and 8 steals through May 23, his last previous appearance with the Angels. “Before I got injured, I don’t think there was any phase of the game where I was doing poorly.” With Ray, 31, batting more than .290, McLemore was asked about his future with the Angels and whether he expected to be traded during the off-season. “What I’d like to happen and what will happen probably aren’t the same thing,” he said. Then, diplomatically, McLemore added: “I’m sure everybody in the big leagues feels they can start--and I’m in that category. I feel like I can start for this team.” As for a trade, McLemore said, “It’s not up to me. (Requesting a trade) crossed my mind. I definitely want to play every day. And I will, somewhere. Hopefully, here.”

Kirk McCaskill was examined Tuesday by Angel team physician Lewis Yocum, who prescribed medication for the irritated radial nerve in McCaskill’s right arm. Yocum told McCaskill not to throw a baseball for 48 hours, allowing the medication to run its course, and then the arm will be re-examined. If McCaskill can’t make his next scheduled start, Friday in Baltimore, Rojas said he will start Mike Witt in his place. . . . Bob Boone had to leave Tuesday’s game in the third inning after his first-inning collision with Rickey Henderson. Henderson kneed Boone in the left leg on the play, and Boone suffered a bruised left quadricep. . . . Greg Minton, pitching for the first time since he bruised his right foot last Monday, worked 2 scoreless innings in relief of Willie Fraser. Minton allowed just two hits--a seventh-inning single to Henderson and an eighth-inning bloop single to Jack Clark.