Finley Strikes Out 15 and Wins : Angel Left-Hander Uses Forkball to Beat Orioles, 8-3

The last time an Angel left-handed pitcher was this overpowering, his name was Frank Tanana, back in the days when Tanana’s fastball could still stun a radar gun and give Nolan Ryan’s a run for its voltage.

That was 13 years ago, a memory that has faded with the pace of Tanana’s pitches. But for those among the 45,824 at Anaheim Stadium Saturday night who know Tanana only as the graying Tiger with the junkball deliveries, young Chuck Finley boldly demonstrated how it was once done.

By striking out 15 Baltimore Orioles in an 8-3 Angel victory, Finley became the first Angel left-hander to reach such a potent level since Tanana fanned 15 Oakland A’s on Sept. 6, 1976. It was also the highest strikeout total by an Angel pitcher since right-hander Mike Witt recorded 16 on July 23, 1984, against the Seattle Mariners--and the highest total in the major leagues this season, matching the 15 strikeouts that Ryan logged against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 12.

For a while, Finley threatened to break even more impressive ground. He had 10 strikeouts after five innings and 14 after eight. The Angel record for most strikeouts by a left-hander is 17, set by Tanana in 1975. The American League record for most strikeouts by a left-hander is 18, set by the New York Yankees’ Ron Guidry against the Angels in 1978.

How did Finley, who had never struck out more than 10 men in a game, put himself in such a position?

With a forkball, the Orioles kept saying.

“I’d never seen him throw it before,” said Baltimore left fielder Phil Bradley, who struck out twice in four at-bats. “I usually guard against it with two strikes. I was looking for it and still couldn’t hit it. It was just outstanding, biting right in the dirt.”

Echoed Baltimore Manager Frank Robinson: “I wasn’t close enough to see, (but) all I know is whenever he had two strikes, he’d throw his forkball or split-finger or whatever he calls it and then bounce the next one, and we’d swing at it.”

A dissenting, and minority, opinion was offered by Oriole catcher Bob Melvin. But then, Melvin had a reason. He struck out four times.

“I don’t know what it was,” he said. “I haven’t seen it.”

The forkball is, of course, the pitch Finley added to his repertoire during the waning weeks of the 1988 season. It is the pitch that has transformed him from a 9-15 plodder last season to the type of pitcher who throws a one-hitter in Boston and strikes out 15 Orioles in Anaheim.

For Finley (8-6), it was a splashy way to end his four-game losing streak.

And the Angels, who had scored only seven runs for Finley in his previous five starts, celebrated the occasion with 15 hits and eight runs, including four home runs--one apiece by Johnny Ray, Brian Downing, Devon White and Jack Howell.

In Angel Manager Doug Rader’s estimation, those home runs were almost as important to Finley’s performance as his new-found bonus pitch.

“No question that a few early runs help ease the pain,” Rader said. “It makes it a whole lot easier to pitch that way.”

Finley admitted that the burden of a four-game losing streak had been a heavy weight to carry to the mound.

“I know I’d been putting too much self-inflicted pressure on myself,” said Finley with a redundancy that matched his strikeout ratio on this evening. “I was trying to do too much instead of just taking my natural stuff out there.”

Once the Angel home run assault put the game out of reach, the real suspense began to set in:

Just how high could Finley’s strikeout total climb?

Finley struck out the side in the fifth inning and had 12 strikeouts with one out in the seventh. But he was temporarily stalled there when Mike Devereaux and Cal Ripken grounded out to end the inning.

But Finley came back with strikeouts of Randy Milligan and Melvin in the eighth to send him into the last inning with a total of 14.

Strike out the side . . . and Finley ties Tanana’s left-handed Angel record of 17.

Finley made it interesting, too, as he retired Baltimore’s leadoff hitter in the ninth inning, Craig Worthington, on strikes. Then, center fielder Steve Finley singled.

Billy Ripken, who had fanned in his previous at-bat, stepped in, taking a .239 batting average with him. Ripken, Baltimore’s No. 9 hitter in the lineup, seemed easy prey.

But Ripken put the head of the bat on the ball and bounced a grounder to Howell at third base. Howell fired to second base for one out, and Ray turned the pivot and threw to first to complete the double play.

If ever a game-ending double play could be considered a partial disappointment for the winning side, this was it.

“I didn’t know how many (strikeouts) I had until they flashed ‘em up on the scoreboard,” Finley said. “I wish they hadn’t done that. I didn’t want to get to the point where I was trying to strike people out. I just wanted to finish the game.”

That Finley did. Finley wound up with a seven-hitter and his sixth complete game of the season, which is the most on the Angel staff and the third-best total in the American League, behind the Kansas City Royals’ Bret Saberhagen and Mark Gubicza, who have seven apiece.

In 1988, Finley finished the regular season with two complete games.

But that was long before the forkball. As 15 Orioles learned Saturday night, that pitch has changed things a bit.

Angel Notes

With three at-bats Saturday night, Brian Downing surpassed Jim Fregosi as the club’s leader in career at-bats with 5,245. Of the 12 major offensive categories the club lists, Downing ranks as the Angels’ career leader in all but three. He also leads the franchise in games played (1,491), hits (1,422), runs (817), home runs (201), RBIs (763), doubles (253), extra-base hits (474) and total bases (2,318). For the time being, that figures to be it for Downing, who is not going to catch Rod Carew in batting average (.314 to Downing’s .271) or Fregosi in triples (70 to Downing’s 20) or Gary Pettis in stolen bases (186 to Downing’s 27).

Add Records: Credit the Angels’ publicity staff for digging up this one. Sandwiched around two lengthy stints on the disabled list, Tony Armas has hit in six consecutive games. The streak dates back to April 8, a span of 78 days, which is longer than it took Joe DiMaggio to record his 56-game hitting streak. Of course, Armas has appeared in just seven games this season. His hits have come on the dates of April 8-9, May 15, June 20-21 and 23.

Bill Schroeder started his second consecutive game as the catcher Saturday, with Angel Manager Doug Rader wanting to give Lance Parrish’s sore back an extra day’s rest. Parrish took batting practice and could be ready to play in today’s series finale, according to Rader. . . . Dave Schmidt’s complete game Friday night was the Orioles’ first since April 24 and only the club’s fourth of the season. Schmidt also threw the April 24th complete game, also at Anaheim Stadium. The date is notable for one other reason: On that night, Jim Abbott beat Schmidt, 3-2, for his first major league victory.