Finley Settles Down on Mound, Then Enjoys Winning Results

It was the kind of game Chuck Finley had grown accustomed to in May but had long awaited in June.

A career-high 15 strikeouts in the Angels’ 8-3 victory against Baltimore Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium ended nearly a month of frustration for the 26-year-old left-hander. His previous career best was eight, exactly one year ago against Milwaukee.

But don’t ask Finley if he was counting.

“I didn’t know how many (strikeouts) I had until they flashed it up on the (scoreboard),” he 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.”

He did. He allowed seven hits for the complete-game victory, something that hasn’t been a part of his vocabulary for 29 days.

Finley, 8-6, earned his first victory since May 26, which capped his finest month in his major league career. He was 4-0 in May and was named the American League pitcher of the month.

But June proved to be disastrous. He gave up four runs and lost all four games he pitched.

Angel Manager Doug Rader said Finley had been putting too much pressure on himself.

“Chuck quit fighting himself,” Rader said. “It’s hard to do anything uptight. When you put so much emphasis on the activity, it’s hard to enjoy yourself.”

But Finley appeared to be enjoying himself against the Orioles. He had 10 strikeouts after stopping the heart of the Orioles’ lineup--Phil Bradley, Cal Ripken and Mickey Tettleton--in the fifth.

Finley said he relaxed on the mound, something he hadn’t done for a long time.

“I had been putting too much self-inflicted pressure on myself,” he said. “I tried to do too much instead of taking my natural stuff out there.”

His “stuff” includes a changeup that he uses to set up a 90-m.p.h. fastball.

Angel catcher Bill Schroeder said Finley’s forkball was at its best.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to hit that pitch,” said Schroeder, who singled twice and scored two runs. “I’ve never seen his forkball work that well.”

Rader said Finley no longer has a reputation as a power pitcher.

“He’s changed a little bit,” Rader said. “He’s getting better command of his forkball.”

And he’s getting more help, too. In his four previous outings, the Angels were outscored, 18-2.

But on Saturday, Finley had a 3-1 lead to protect in the second inning. Two-run homers by Brian Downing in the fifth and Jack Howell in the eighth increased his lead. Rader said he was relieved to see the Angels hitting with power again.

“Having a few runs makes it easier for (Finley) to relax,” Rader said. “Howell has been swinging well since the Detroit series, but he doesn’t have much to show for it.

“And I can’t say enough about Downing. He continues to do the big thing with the bat, whether it has a great impact on us winning or not.”

On Saturday night, it did. And Finley was grateful.

“The guys were really swinging the bat,” he said. “That’s good to see.”