Finley Tops Milwaukee for 6th Win : White Hits Home Run as Southpaw Pitches a 3-1 Complete Game

Jim Abbott and Kirk McCaskill are the glimmer twins of the Angel pitching rotation, the current headline grabbers. Bert Blyleven and Mike Witt are the old reliables, the proven veterans who are proving it again in this improbable spring.

So where does that leave Chuck Finley, the other member of the five-man crew?

Would you believe bucking for the American League leadership in victories?

With Friday night’s 3-1 complete game victory over the Milwaukee Brewers before 39,978, Finley improved his 1989 record to 6-2. That ties Finley with Baltimore’s Jeff Ballard and Oakland’s Bob Welch for second place in the American League, one behind seven-game winner Dave Stewart of Oakland.

This is the same Chuck Finley who went 9-15 in 1988, his first season as a starting pitcher. And the year before that, the Angels were 4-31 during games in which Finley pitched.

The pitcher who didn’t know how to win has picked up the knack in a hurry.

Or, maybe it’s the Angels who have learned to win for Finley.

Victimized repeatedly last season by a lack of support--both offensively and defensively--Finley received timely hitting, timely fielding and even a break or two en route to his third complete game in nine starts.

Devon White provided much of the necessary assistance with his bat and his glove. In the sixth inning, he homered to give Finley a 1-0 lead. In the eighth, he singled and scored the Angels’ third run. And in the ninth, he raced back to the center-field wall to take an extra-base hit away from Milwaukee’s Glenn Braggs.

More than that, a wild pitch gave Finley the go-ahead run in the seventh inning.

With the game tied at 1-1, Lance Parrish got things started with a one-out single. Two more singles by Jack Howell and Claudell Washington, the latter a high infield chopper, loaded the bases for Johnny Ray.

But before Ray could put the ball in play, Milwaukee reliever Bill Krueger threw it in the dirt and past catcher Charlie O’Brien for a wild pitch that scored Parrish.

Finley spent the first six innings pitching out of trouble, stranding two runners on third base, but the only real mistake he made came in the sixth, when he lost track of the number of outs.

With two out and Robin Yount on third, Finley struck out Rob Deer. Angel catcher Parrish clutched the third strike, arose from his crouch and flipped the ball toward the mound as he headed for the dugout.

Finley, however, mistook Deer’s strikeout for only the second of the inning and broke out in a momentary panic. Watching the bouncing ball, Finley hustled toward home plate, pounced on the ball . . . and then looked up to see players from both teams leaving the field.

This prompted more than a few smiles in the Angel dugout, where Finley was promptly reminded of the principles of basic mathematics.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the Angels finally put a number on the board.

White’s second home run in as many evenings, this coming against Milwaukee starter Bryan Clutterbuck, gave the Angels a 1-0 lead. The home run, delivered on an 0-1 pitch, was the fifth of the season for White, who leads the Angels in RBIs with 25.

Finley, however, gave the run right back in the top of the seventh.

Braggs and Jim Gantner opened the inning with successive singles, putting runners on first and third. After Dave Engle struck out, O’Brien doubled into the left-field corner to score Braggs to make it a 1-1 tie.

Finley averted further damage when Gantner broke from third on an infield chopper by Mike Felder. Angel shortstop Kent Anderson short-hopped the ball and, on the run, fired home. Parrish then ran Gantner back to third, where the Brewer was greeted by O’Brien, already standing on the base.

Two runners on one base is one more than what’s allowed, and Gantner was out.

The threat ended when Paul Molitor grounded out to third base.

“He pitched out of a tough jam,” Rader exclaimed. “I’m proud of him.”

Two innings, and two Angel runs, later, Finley was rubbing elbows with the best pitchers in the league. In Anaheim, the wonders have yet to cease.

Angel Notes

Rookie Mistake: Jim Abbott is finding American League lineups easier to negotiate than Southland freeways. Friday afternoon, Abbott showed up at Anaheim Stadium 15 minutes late because he got caught in traffic, a gaffe that was quickly brought to his attention. “Hey, Abbie, where’ve you been?” Angel Manager Doug Rader wanted to know. Abbott sheepishly told him that he “got stuck on the 405.” Rader: “Where were you, in Cucamonga?” Abbott said he was visiting friends in Los Angeles and “spent two hours trying to get here. It was 2:30 when I left.” That didn’t satisfy Rader. “Are there exits off that 405?” he asked. Abbott nodded. “Do you think you could’ve gotten off and put a quarter in that little box and said, ‘Doug, I’ll be a little late?’ ” Abbott nodded again. “From now on, we’ll do it that way,” Rader said. Red-faced, Abbott turned to join his teammates, who were doing stretching exercises in the outfield. As he left, Rick Turner, Angel bullpen catcher and Abbott roommate, Turner chimed in, “Welcome to Southern California.”

Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann continues to receive mention as a candidate for the Toronto Blue Jays’ managerial vacancy, which neither surprises nor displeases Rader. “I think it’s wonderful for Lach,” Rader said. “He ought to be considered. You always want what’s best for the guy. I think it’s great.” Lachemann says he has not been formally interviewed by the Blue Jays, but his relationship with Toronto General Manager Pat Gillick dates back to their undergraduate days at USC, when Lachemann and Gillick were baseball teammates and roommates. “As well as Pat and Marcel know each other, there’s no need for an interview,” Rader said.

Dick Schofield’s groin injury may now sideline him through the rest of the home stand. “The trainers are thinking they may want to hold him out now until Tuesday,” said Rader, referring to the first game of a nine-day swing through New York, Boston and Milwaukee. Kent Anderson’s play as Schofield’s replacement has made such thinking seem all the more reasonable. Entering Friday’s game, the Angels were 15-6 with Anderson in the starting lineup and Anderson, with his fifth-inning single against Bryan Clutterbuck, has hit safely in 17 of 22 starts.