Ryan of Old Sets Down Angels, 3-0

The Anaheim Stadium crowd gave Nolan Ryan an extended standing ovation before Thursday night’s game, an All-Star welcome befitting a conquering hero returning home after almost a decade away.

Then, the Angel batters proceeded to pay their own sort of tribute, eking out a couple of hits in the first two innings before meekly retiring as the Texas Rangers rode the Ryan Express to a 3-0 victory before 37,867.

The last time he pitched in this facility--Sept. 24, 1979--Ryan helped the Angels clinch a tie for the American League West title with a 4-3 victory over Kansas City.

This time, however, he single-handedly bumped the Angels out of first place with his 28th career three-hitter. Ryan struck out 12, marking the 189th time in his storied career that he has struck out 10 or more in a game. It was also his 56th career shutout.

Angel starter Kirk McCaskill certainly didn’t have a bad outing, he merely got an unlucky draw when a rainout Sunday in Texas moved Ryan’s start from Wednesday night to Thursday night.

The legendary veteran and the new kid on the hill staged an old-time pitchers’ duel for six innings, until McCaskill’s nemesis, Steve Buechele, ended a scoreless tie in the seventh with his fifth homer of the season, a no-doubt-about-it shot to left-center.

It also ended a 98-inning homerless streak for Texas. In the ninth inning, Ruben Sierra put an exclamation point on the end of the streak, sending a 1-0 McCaskill delivery into the seats in right center . . . and sending McCaskill (9-5) to the shower in the process.

The Rangers scored once more in the ninth against reliever Willie Fraser when Buechele singled to left and scored on Jeff Kunkel’s double down the left-field line.

Buechele has three home runs in 17 at-bats against McCaskill. And his solo shot on June 25, 1986 in Texas, was the lone hit for the Rangers in a 7-1 Angel victory.

That was as close as McCaskill has ever come to a no-hitter, but Ryan, who accomplished the feat four times with the Angels, is baseball’s all-time leader in the no-hit department with five.

Ryan had plenty of fans in the Anaheim Stadium crowd on this evening, but nobody was rooting for him more than Texas Manager Bobby Valentine.

“If you can’t like Nolan Ryan, you can’t like anybody,” Valentine said before the game. “And if you don’t appreciate his ability, then you should watch some other sport.”

The Angels--all of whom presumably enjoy baseball--did plenty of watching on this evening. Few spent any time running the bases, anyway.

Ryan, who had more than his share of roller-coaster rides while pitching on this mound in an Angel uniform, must have had felt like he had gone through this before.

He gave up a walk to Dick Schofield to open the first inning and, after a one-out bloop single to Devon White, he looked as if he might fall behind in a hurry. But he got out of the inning by striking out Brian Downing on two very-Ryanesque breaking balls and a vintage-Ryan fastball.

The Angels’ first baserunner of the second inning, Tony Armas, reached base when he swung at a two-strike wild pitch in the dirt that skipped by catcher Chad Kreuter to the backstop as Armas scampered to first.

Just like old times in the Big A.

After an uneventful third, Ryan hit Downing to open the fourth. He then got Chili Davis to hit into a double play before striking out Armas on another pitch in the dirt that again eluded Kreuter. This time, however, Kreuter recovered in time to record the strikeout at first.

And, by the end of the fifth, the Texas right-hander had a very Ryan-like seven strikeouts and the Angels were scoreless.

But the Ranger batters weren’t faring much better against McCaskill, who yielded just three hits in the first six innings. Texas was making better contact then the Angels, but didn’t have any runs to show for it until Buechele connected with one out in the seventh. McCaskill had benefited from four line-drive outs and an inning-ending double play with two-on in the sixth.

Ryan’s fastest throw of the evening might have come in the ninth when he jumped on Chili Davis’ dribbler in front of the mound and fired to first for the third out, slamming the door on a two-on, two-out Angel mini-threat.

First baseman Rafael Palmeiro saved the ball for Ryan, but the 42-year-old fireballer obviously wasn’t overpowered by the sentiment of the moment.

He tossed the ball into the crowd.

As pregame celebrity first-ball pitcher Bob Hope would have said: Thanks for the memories.

Angel Notes

Second baseman Johnny Ray, who would have been eligible for free agency this fall, signed a two-year extension with the Angels Thursday. The deal, worked out between Ray’s agent, Tom Selakovich, and Angel Senior Vice President of Operations Dan O’Brien, includes a club option for a third year. The agreement is a departure from the Angels’ policy of declining to negotiate during the season, but General Manager Mike Port said talks began at his instigation because of “in-house” reasons. “This does not signal a change of policy,” Port said. “It’s still our preference to wait until the end of the year. But there may be other exceptions. Every scenario has a different twist.” Ray, who became an Angel on Aug. 29, 1987 after a trade with Pittsburgh, has a .302 average with 62 doubles and 86 RBIs since joining the team. Port also said that Ray’s contract extension does not mean that second baseman Mark McLemore, currently playing for triple-A Edmonton, will necessarily be available for a trade.

Reliever Greg Minton, due to come off the 15-day disabled list Saturday, is ready for action. When he was asked by Angel coaches how he felt after throwing on the sideline last week in Minnesota, Minton said, “Well, considering it didn’t hurt when you put me on (the DL), it feels the same.” Thursday, he said the strained flexor tendon in his right elbow, still felt fine. “Saturday, I get to be an athlete again,” he said. “I’ve lifted so many weights, I’m ready for the Olympic barbell team.”

Designated hitter Brian Downing switched to a 36-ounce, 36-inch bat last month and has been on a tear ever since. “If I had switched to that earlier, I might have been here on Tuesday (for the All-Star game),” he said. “Who knows what would’ve happened to all those balls I hit to the warning track.”

A pregame exhibition flight on Armed Forces Night was canceled after a National Guard truck was struck by a plane in a crash that killed one man and injured two others. The Air Force F-4C Phantom jet, one of a group that was supposed to perform a pregame fly-by, crashed during a takeoff attempt at March Air Force Base near Riverside. The two-man crew ejected safely. None of the men involved was immediately identified.