Shutout Is Abbott’s, Not Clemens’ : Angels Get 5 in First; Rookie Pitches 4-Hitter for 5-0 Win

The Rocket met The Rookie Wednesday night at Anaheim Stadium, and at least one thing happened in accordance with the billing.

Roger Clemens struck out the side in the first inning.

So much for order and expectancy. So much for Clemens’ presence and Jim Abbott’s nerves and the end of the line for the Angels’ latest winning streak.

There was a shutout thrown Wednesday evening, but it wasn’t by Clemens. Clemens barely threw one shutout inning. As it was, he pitched in only three.

Abbott, the Angels’ rookie who had drawn matchups against Mark Langston, Jimmy Key and Mike Moore in three of his first four big league starts, turned his toughest draw into his brightest moment yet, a stunning four-hit, 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox before a crowd of 31,230 that greeted the final out with a standing ovation.

Seven starts into his professional career and coming off a nightmarish outing against the New York Yankees, Abbott not only throws his first complete game but defeats the defending American League East champions, holds the Wade Boggs-Ellis Burks-Mike Greenwell hit parade in check and outpitches a two-time Cy Young Award winner.

What was that about a publicity stunt?

On paper, Wednesday’s matchup must have looked frightening to Angel eyes. Abbott, 21, had lasted just three innings in his last outing, a 5-2 loss to the New York Yankees, surrendering five runs, six hits and two home runs. Clemens, meanwhile, stepped to the mound with a 5-1 record, a 2.18 earned-run average and a 2-0 victory over Seattle in his previous start.

But on a night of role reversal, Abbott pitched a poised, polished nine innings while Clemens was knocked out of the game before he could record seven outs.

Sure, Clemens struck out the side in the first.

However, he had to face nine batters to do it--allowing five of them to score, on a three-run double by Chili Davis and a two-run homer by Lance Parrish.

After a scoreless second inning, Clemens walked Brian Downing and yielded a single to Wally Joyner to open the third before Boston Manager Joe Morgan decided to pull the plug. Before Wednesday, Clemens hadn’t pitched fewer than seven innings in any of his eight 1989 starts.

“I’ve never seen that happen to him before,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “I’ve never been associated with a team that’s done that before to Roger Clemens.”

Then again, Rader had never seen what happened to Abbott, either. Five days ago, it was Rader who had to replace Abbott in the third inning, with a game quickly slipping out of control.

It was Abbott’s first truly poor outing as an Angel and it gave him much to ponder as he prepared for the Red Sox.

“Coming off my last start, I felt that was a bad day, but I didn’t think it meant I was a bad pitcher,” Abbott said. “The most gratifying thing about tonight was I proved it.”

Abbott (3-3) needed just 103 pitches to prove it. He limited Boston to four singles--two by Greenwell, one a scratch hit by Boggs--and faced only 30 batters, three over the minimum.

Four double plays made that possible, with Jim Rice hitting into a pair of them.

And the Angels won their fifth straight game, maintaining their first-place tie atop the AL West standings with the Oakland Athletics.

Abbott insisted he hadn’t been intimidated by the prospect of pitching against Clemens, as if his actions hadn’t spoken loudly enough.

“It really didn’t affect me at all,” he said. “I was really going out there against myself, not even the Red Sox hitters, considering that last start.

“We had the early lead, things were fairly in hand, and I just wanted to finish one. The lead helped me tremendously. I was just able to throw strikes.”

The lead came quickly, with the Angel offense shifting into gear after Clemens began the bottom of the first by striking out leadoff hitter Claudell Washington.

Johnny Ray and Devon White followed with singles, and after Downing struck out, Clemens walked Joyner to load the bases.

Then, Davis dropped the hammer. An opposite-field double, sliced into the left-field corner, cleared the bases, giving the Angels a fast 3-0 advantage. Three pitches later, Parrish made it 5-0 with a two-run home run, and a pitching matchup of power versus potential was about to be turned upside down.

Clemens allowed three more hits and another walk before Morgan called upon the bullpen. The two-plus-inning stint was Clemens’ shortest since last Aug. 14, when he was knocked out by the Detroit Tigers after 1 1/3 innings.

“I take the blame for today’s game,” Clemens said. “I will make some changes before my next start. I will get another chance to face them.”

For one implausible night in Anaheim, however, pitching present encountered pitching future, and the future burned brightest. If this was indeed Abbott’s arrival, it was appropriate that the American League’s premier pitcher was present to footnote the occasion.

Angel Notes

Jim Eppard arrived in Anaheim Wednesday to replace injured outfielder Tony Armas, which, according to Eppard, was about one month too late. The first time Armas went on the disabled list, in early April, Eppard was bypassed in favor of Edmonton outfielder Brian Brady, mainly because Eppard was said to have a sprained left wrist. “That was the report (the Angels) had on me,” Eppard said. “But it was an old report. I spent three days not doing anything because we had two games ‘colded out,’ and my wrist was getting better. Maybe if they had asked me. . . . If they wanted me to do what (Brady) did, two at-bats in three weeks, I probably could’ve sucked it up.” In this case, Eppard said, honesty wasn’t necessarily the best policy. “If I hadn’t said anything about the wrist, I’d probably have been up here already,” Eppard surmised. “I had to look out for myself, but it cost me some time in the big leagues.”

Wally Joyner’s wife, Lesley, gave birth to the couple’s third daughter, Rachel Crosby, Wednesday morning at St. Jude Hospital in Yorba Linda. Joyner was a happy father and a relieved baseball player, admitting that Lesley’s condition had weighed heavily on his mind in recent days, which saw Joyner’s batting average dip as low as .216 and his 72-game errorless streak end Tuesday night. “I was kind of nervous the last week or so,” he said. Angel Manager Doug Rader noticed. “I think he’s been preoccupied with his family, and that’s understandable,” Rader said.

Before the game, former Angel shortstop and manager Jim Fregosi was inducted into the club’s hall of fame during a ceremony at home plate. Fregosi becomes the second member of the Angel hall, joining 1988 inductee Bobby Grich. Angel first-base coach Bobby Knoop, who was Fregosi’s double-play partner for five years, told the crowd, “During the 1960s and into the 1970s, Jimmy Fregosi, my pal, was the premier player of the California Angels--and possibly one of the premier players of major league baseball. If you didn’t see him play, you missed a lot of excitement and history.” Added Grich: “I used to watch him play as a baby. He was everybody’s idol, if you grew up in Southern California and wanted to be a shortstop. He had a style of play you couldn’t help enjoy--aggressive, heads-up--that all young players wanted to emulate.”