Witt Ends a Couple of Streaks : His Six-Hitter Stops Oriole Victories at 7, Angel Losses at 4

Individually they are called starting pitchers, but collectively they are known as a rotation, because with starting pitching, everything that goes around usually comes around.

Examine the state of the Angels’ rotation:

Kirk McCaskill, once 7-1 and owner of the major leagues’ lowest earned-run average, was knocked out of his last outing in the second inning. Jim Abbott, the rookie who regularly pitches to standing ovations, barely lasted four innings two nights ago. Chuck Finley, winner of seven of his first nine decisions, has lost four in a row.

And Mike Witt? Remember when he was about one more home-run pitch away from losing his spot in the rotation, way back around this time last week?

The same Mike Witt was on the mound for the final out at Anaheim Stadium Friday night, shutting out the Baltimore Orioles for seven innings and ending a four-game Angel losing streak and a seven-game Oriole winning streak with a 5-1 victory before a crowd of 45,452.

That’s two wins in a row for Witt, who presently has the longest streak in the Angel rotation. In just two starts, Witt has nearly doubled his victory total--going from 3-7 to 5-7--and lowered his earned-run average from 4.93 to 4.34.

He snapped out of a five-week winless funk last Sunday when he finagled his way past the Detroit Tigers for seven innings en route to a rather uneventful 3-1 decision.

Friday’s victory was eventful, all right. Witt threw a six-hitter, his first complete game since May 13, and came within a bloop double of pitching his first shutout of the season. He also made losers of the Orioles for the first time in more than a week.

Through seven innings, Witt had allowed the Orioles five singles--two of the infield variety--and let only one baserunner advance as far as third base. In the eighth, he yielded a shallow fly ball to .247-hitting Rene Gonzales that fell for a double when center fielder Devon White failed to make a diving catch.

Gonzales moved to third base and scored on a pair of ground-outs, with Steve Finley’s bouncer to shortstop foiling Witt’s shutout bid.

The moment was only a minor disappointment for Witt, who began the month thankful whenever he pitched a shutout inning . In between his third and fourth victories, from May 13 to June 18, Witt had gone 0-4 with a 7.14 ERA in five starts.

With Witt, the straits had become so dire, Angel Manager Doug Rader actually began broaching the topic of moving Witt, his opening-day starter, to the bullpen for a week or so.

Standing at such a crossroads, Witt began examining last resorts and wound up trying the once-unthinkable--redesigning his once-redoubtable curveball, the “Mercedes-Bends” of American League repute.

“He changed the grip on his curveball,” Rader revealed. “Mike said he thought he’d never have to do that.”

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and on the Angels’ last trip, Witt experimented with the new grip, which entails a larger snapping motion.

“I’m basically exaggerating the wrist,” Witt said. “I’m ‘wrapping’ my wrist, like (Don) Sutton and (Rick) Sutcliffe did when they threw the curve. The way the ball is coming out of my hand and how the batters are seeing it is the way it used to be.”

New technique, old results.

“The pitch has helped his confidence,” Rader said. “There’s been a big difference in his approach the last couple of times out. With a higher confidence level, you can be more aggressive with the way you pitch.”

The Angels backed Witt with an eight-hit attack against Dave Schmidt (7-6), including home runs by Claudell Washington and Jack Howell, but their most interesting piece of work was their first run of the evening, brought to you in its entirety by White.

With one out in the fourth inning, White bunted back to Schmidt and legged out a hit. Then, White stole second. And third.

But he didn’t stop there. Drawing a hurried throw from catcher Mickey Tettleton, White also drew a mistake, with Tettleton’s throw sailing down the third-base line for an error that enabled White to break a scoreless tie standing up.

The stolen bases were White’s 24th and 25th. The run was his 42nd. And for Tettleton, the error was his first in 98 games, ending an errorless streak of 219 chances, dating to last season.

The Angels’ lead remained 1-0 until Washington’s next at-bat. In the sixth inning, Washington homered over the right-field fence, his ninth of the season, a club high.

And in the seventh inning, the Angels scored three more runs, two on Howell’s seventh home run.

It’s amazing what happens to losing streaks when hitters start hitting home runs and pitchers start pitching six-hit complete games.

“Much to their credit, these guys didn’t fold their tents,” Rader said. “The last three weeks could’ve been very discouraging, but these guys have stuck together and worked it out.”

And by sticking with Witt, the Angels gave their floundering No. 1 starter the chance to work things out.

“Every team in the league knows I’ve been struggling,” Witt said. “But, they also know I have the capability to do what I did tonight.”

And now, most importantly, the Angels know it, too.

Angel Notes

Kirk McCaskill’s rough Tuesday night outing (1 2/3 innings, seven hits, five earned runs) was enough to make Angel Manager Doug Rader consider skipping the pitcher’s next turn. “When I said that, I was just thinking out loud,” said Rader, who has McCaskill scheduled to pitch Sunday’s series finale against the Orioles. “Lach (pitching coach Marcel Lachemann) has looked at tapes, and it’s a mechanical problem. According to Lach and Mac, it’s certainly not only correctable, but it has been corrected.” Rader admitted that his original idea was “a little radical. It’s more drastic when you give time off to a starter. Skip a start and it’s 10 days. That’s like giving a hitter in a slump 10 days off. You’d only do it if there was something physically wrong or if a guy was just getting creased and (couldn’t) get the job done. But the regular amount of time between starts is enough to heal a pitcher emotionally.”

Last year, they put a punching bag in the runway leading to the Angel dugout in order to stem the rash of bruised knuckles resulting from frustrated players punching out concrete walls. Now, maybe, they should pad the runway ramp. Johnny Ray’s sprained toe, which kept him out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive night, was incurred when he stubbed it walking back to the clubhouse during Tuesday night’s 14-inning loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. According to Rader, Ray can still bat on the foot but is not yet ready to play in the field.