Witt, Angels Can’t Hold Their Leads

Opportunity hasn’t knocked often for the Angels in recent seasons, but there it was at Yankee Stadium Thursday night, grooved for them like the fattest hanging curveball.

The Oakland Athletics had lost to the Milwaukee Brewers in the afternoon and the Angels, for a few hours, were in first place by seven percentage points.

Scoring twice in the first inning, they had a chance to increase their lead to a half-game, and handed the ball to Mike Witt, who five-hit these same New York Yankees 12 days earlier.

By the end of the third inning, the Angels trailed, 5-3. Witt was gone before the ninth Yankee out, and after an 8-6 defeat, so were any Angel thoughts of leading the American League West, which the Athletics lead by a half-game.

“That’s what makes it bad,” Witt said, shoulders slouched as he sat in front of his locker. “Oakland lost also. This was a good chance for us to go ahead.

“Although it’s early, I’d like to push them more than they’re being pushed right now. Especially with Canseco out.”

For the Angels, this is the sobering truth: Jose Canseco has yet to make a regular-season at-bat, and the Angels are off to the fastest start in franchise history (29-16), yet Oakland still owns first place.

Witt was given a 2-0 lead before he threw a pitch. Brian Downing opened the game with a single off Yankee starter Tommy John, Dick Schofield followed with a double and both scored on sacrifice flies--Johnny Ray bringing home Downing and Devon White scoring Schofield.

But before Witt retired the side in the bottom of the first, he had given away half his advantage. Or, to be completely accurate, thrown it away.

New York’s Rickey Henderson led off with a single and was moved to second base by Witt, who misfired a pick-off throw to first for an error. Henderson advanced to third on an infield out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Don Mattingly.

In the second inning, the Angels again presented Witt with a two-run lead, courtesy of the first of Bill Schroeder’s two home runs. But in the third inning, that 3-1 advantage turned to dust, with Witt failing to see the fourth inning.

A ground-rule double by Steve Sax and a two-out walk to Ken Phelps laid the foundation for a four-run inning. Jesse Barfield unleashed a three-run home run and Mike Pagliarulo made it back-to-back homers for a 5-3 Yankee lead.

The home run was Pagliarulo’s second of the season, his second off Witt and the first that was fair. On May 13 in Anaheim, Pagliarulo’s foul drive that was ruled fair accounted for New York’s only run in Witt’s 6-1 victory.

In the rematch, Witt lasted just 2 2/3 innings, his shortest outing in almost two years. After Don Slaught and Alvaro Espinoza followed the home runs with back-to-back singles, Witt was finished.

Just one of those nights?

“I don’t think so,” Witt said. “You can say that only so many times a year. After a while it gets old, it doesn’t fly.”

Unlike the balls Barfield and Pagliarulo hit.

Witt (3-4) is the only Angel starter with a losing record. After Thursday’s shelling, his earned-run average ballooned to a staff-high 4.41.

Such inconsistency is difficult to explain and few opinions were forthcoming in the Angel clubhouse. Manager Doug Rader issued a virtual no-comment--”We’ve pretty much gone over it before with Mike,” he said. “We don’t need to go over it again.”

Said Witt: “I didn’t see anything (wrong) on the (videotapes). That’s what’s so frustrating. If you see something you’re doing wrong on the tape, you can work on it and correct it. But I couldn’t find anything.”

Yet Witt was able to escape the losing decision--that went to relief pitcher Willie Fraser (1-3)--because the Angel offense was able to rally and forge a 6-6 tie in the seventh inning.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Fraser walked Phelps with one out and yielded a single to Pagliarulo with two out. Slaught scored Phelps with a ground-rule double to right, his fourth hit of the game, and Espinoza brought home Pagliarulo with a single off the glove of pitcher Bryan Harvey.

In the process, the Angels wasted the home runs by Schroeder, who has five in a mere 46 at-bats. Schroeder homered to left in the second inning and went to right in the fifth against John, both coming with the bases empty.

The Angels scored the tying run in the seventh inning on Ray’s second sacrifice fly of the evening. But the potential existed for so much more. Wally Joyner and Glenn Hoffman opened the inning with singles, only to have Joyner erased at third base on a hit-and-run play that went haywire.

With Brian Downing at the plate and New York reliever Dale Mohorcic pitching, Joyner broke for third base. But Mohorcic’s pitch was in the dirt, Downing swung and missed . . . and Joyner was easy prey at third base.

Schofield was then hit by a pitch, but Mohorcic wriggled out of the jam with only one run by retiring Ray and White on long fly outs.

“The situation called for either a bunt or a hit-and-run, and Brian’s much better at the hit-and-run,” Rader said. “Brian’s an excellent hit-and-run guy.

“Unfortunately, the pitch Mohorcic threw was so bad, Brian had no chance to hit it. . . . It was a good break for them and an unlucky break for Brian.”

And, for the Angels, another wasted opportunity on a night rich with them.

Angel Notes

You’re The Manager: Right-handed hitting Bill Schroeder is two for two with two home runs against left-hander Tommy John. Schroeder is due to lead off the seventh inning, but by then, the Yankees have brought in another pitcher, Dale Mohorcic, a right-hander. The Yankees lead, 6-5. What do you do? If you’re Doug Rader, you ignore the hot-hitter theory, play the percentages and send left-handed hitter Wally Joyner to the plate to bat for Schroeder. “For Billy to hit off Mohorcic would have been a little unfair for him,” Rader reasoned. “He hadn’t seen a lot of right-handed pitching and he was in the game to generate some offense against Tommy John, which he did. He’d already done everything he could.” Schroeder, who hit a grand slam in his last start Sunday, admits to being a streak hitter, but he wouldn’t argue with Rader’s logic. “I haven’t done real good (against Mohorcic),” Schroeder said. “It was good move.” Joyner made it look good, anyway, by hitting a single.

Besides the home runs hit against Mike Witt by Jesse Barfield and Mike Pagliarulo, Don Mattingly cleared the fences against Willie Fraser in the fourth. That was the second home run in two nights for Mattingly, who began this series without a home run since last September. . . . Witt’s abbreviated start was his shortest since June 22, 1987, when he lasted just 2 1/3 innings against the Texas Rangers.