Ryan and Hough Are Too Tough : Ranger Pitchers Gun Down Angels as Losing Streak Hits 7

Considering the possibilities, the Angels got away better than expected Wednesday night.

Nolan Ryan did not pitch a no-hitter.

Nolan Ryan did not throw a shutout.

Nolan Ryan did not strike out 15 batters.

The Angels avoided each of these indignities with a seven-hit attack, actually scoring a run against Ryan and actually knocking him out of the game in the ninth inning of a 5-1 loss to the Texas Rangers.

This was notable in that the Angels preceded that one run with 23 consecutive scoreless innings--and followed it with seven more against Charlie Hough, whose 6-3 victory completed a doubleheader sweep in Arlington Stadium.

The Angels have lost their last seven games and are 0-6 on this trip, including series sweeps in Kansas City and Texas. They have scored a total of 11 runs in those seven games and have been shut out twice.

But buck up, Angel fans, they figure to score a few today when they play an exhibition game against their Midland, Tex., double-A farm team.

“When your offense shuts down, there’s not much you can do except keep plugging,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “The majority of our lineup has gone sour at the same time. It makes it tough on everybody.”

Especially Chuck Finley, the Angels’ losing pitcher in the first game. Finley (7-5) lost his previous two decisions, 4-0 and 1-0, and was down, 5-0, in this one before Bill Schroeder doubled home Brian Downing with two out in the top of the ninth.

That run represented the Angels’ first in 18 innings against Ranger pitching--Mike Jeffcoat shut them out, 4-0, on Monday night--and was so startling a development that Texas Manager Bobby Valentine removed Ryan from the game.

On came reliever Jeff Russell, who retired Kent Anderson for the final out to enable Ryan gain yet another measure of baseball history. With the victory, Ryan (8-3) became the sixth pitcher to defeat all 26 major league teams, joining Doyle Alexander, Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton, Mike Torrez and Rick Wise.

It took Ryan this long to get the Angels because he spent eight years pitching for them before spending the next nine pitching for Houston.

A return to the American League last winter finally put Ryan in position to complete his grand tour, which he did the first time he met up with his former team.

“This should happen if you hang around long enough,” said Ryan, who came close to not getting the chance. Last December, Ryan contemplated a return to Anaheim before ultimately spurning Gene Autry’s free-agent millions for the opportunity to remain in his native Texas.

Ryan, who pitched four of his record five no-hitters for the Angels, admitted that the experience of pitching against them, even after 10 years, was an odd one.

“It’s a little different hearing them announce ‘Angels,’ ” Ryan said. “Even though I’ve been gone that long, I still follow that organization.

“I’m sure it will be more strange when I go to Anaheim.”

That won’t be until early July, so the Angels will have some time to recover. In Round One, they were forced to face Ryan in the early evening twilight, a consequence of Tuesday’s rainout, which created the need for a makeup doubleheader on Wednesday.

For the Angels, Ryan at dusk was an only slightly more appealing proposition than pistols at dawn.

“Sure,” Rader said. “That makes it a tougher situation. But just keep heaping it on us. We can take it.”

Remarkably, the Angels managed a hit against Ryan as early as the second inning and struck out only eight times against him. Yet, they advanced only one runner as far as third base during the first 8 2/3 innings, before Ryan began to tire, which, at age 42, he now sometimes does.

Downing got things started with a two-out bad hop single that exploded on Ranger third baseman Steve Buechele. Jack Howell followed with a single under Ryan’s glove.

Then came Schroeder, who singled off Ryan in the second inning. This at-bat, Schroeder doubled just inside the right-field line, scoring Downing, ruining Ryan’s shutout, and bringing Russell out of the Ranger bullpen.

“It was at a point and time when I was getting behind hitters,” Ryan said. “Bobby did the right thing with Russ. We’re here to win ballgames.”

In the second game, Valentine did the same thing when the Angels caused a ripple of commotion in the top of the ninth. On came Russell again . . . and down went the Angels again. With saves in both games of the doubleheader, Russell equaled a feat accomplished by only two other Rangers (Adrian Devine and Greg Harris) and improved his 1989 save total to 16.

Russell was pitching in relief of Kenny Rogers, who was pitching in relief of Hough. Hough (4-6) worked the first seven innings and did not allow a run, yielding just three hits to beat Angel starter Kirk McCaskill (7-3).

More than that, Hough helped put Ryan’s name into the record book yet another time. With the 41-year-old Hough following Ryan to the mound for the Rangers, the pair became the second tandem of 40-year-olds to pitch both ends of a doubleheader for the same team in the last 56 years.

Since 1933, the only other time this was done was in 1986, when Tommy John (then 43) and Joe Niekro (41) pitched the New York Yankees to a doubleheader split with the Seattle Mariners.

So, what’s 83 years old and sweeps the Angels?

Given their druthers, the Angels could have waited a few more years to find out.

Angel Notes

Technically, the Angels and their No. 1 draft choice, Kyle Abbott, have agreed to terms but officially, the contract remains unsigned, due to a snag that arose when both parties met in the Angel offices at Anaheim Stadium Wednesday. Abbott had orally agreed to sign for a $190,000 bonus, but assumed all the money would be paid him at once. The Angels, however, wanted the bonus to paid over the course of the next two years, a proposal Abbott and his representative, Alan Meersand, vetoed. “We had expected a lump sum as a bonus,” Abbott said by telephone Wednesday night. “The Angels thought I would take it in two (payments)--some this year and some next, for tax purposes. (But) my parents had a few investments already lined up and it’s essential to get it all in one lump sum.” Proving to be a quick learner, Abbott added that “the Angels are playing hardball again” but plans to meet with club officials today. “This is not a question of more money or any other stipulations,” Abbott said. “I walked in there ready to sign. There’s just one tiny wrinkle left. It’s 99% done. It’s just a matter of them seeing the importance of this for me.”

Nolan Ryan downplayed the significance of beating the Angels, 10 years after he last wore an Angel uniform. “I didn’t have any more motivation to beat them than any other ballclub,” he said. “I know more coaches over there than players.” Only one current Angel, Brian Downing, was an Angel teammate of Ryan’s. In four confrontations, Downing managed two hits against Ryan--a seventh-inning double and a ninth-inning single. . . . Angel Manager Doug Rader credits the addition of a changeup to Ryan’s repertoire as the key to his late-career success. “He’s got a tremendous changeup,” Rader said. “It sets up everything else. He’s just an excellent, excellent pitcher. When you think of Nolan Ryan, everybody says ‘fastball,’ but that doesn’t tell the story. He’s not just a thrower who goes out there and fires it. No sir, he’s a pitcher.”

BEATING THEM ALL PITCHERS WHO HAVE VICTORIES AGAINST ALL 26 MAJOR LEAGUE TEAMS.

PITCHER YRS TEAMS RECORD Doyle Alexander 19* Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Dodgers, 192-162 New York Yankees, San Francisco, Texas, Toronto Gaylord Perry 22 Atlanta, Kansas City, New York Yankees, 314-265 San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Texas Nolan Ryan 23* Angels, Houston, New York Mets, Texas 281-256 Don Sutton 23 Angels, Dodgers, Houston, Milwaukee, Oakland 324-256 Mike Torrez 18 Baltimore, Boston, Montreal, New York Mets 185-160 New York Yankees, Oakland, St. Louis Rick Wise 18 Boston, Cleve., Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis 188-181

* active