Angels Return to First : Blyleven Pitches Seven-Hitter and Beats Twins, 5-2

Emotionally drained last Sunday from the circumstances surrounding his first start in Minnesota since the trade last November that brought him to the Angels, Bert Blyleven asked out after pitching seven shutout innings.

He then watched as a pair of Angel relievers lost the game.

At Anaheim Stadium Friday night, a more relaxed Blyleven stuck around for the full nine innings, pitching the Angels to a 5-2 victory over the slumping Twins, who have lost seven of their last eight games.

A crowd of 30,299 watched as the Angels won for the 11th time in 14 games to move 17 games above .500, equaling a season high, and jump over the Oakland Athletics into first place again in the American League West.

For Blyleven, the win was his fourth in his last four decisions, but his first since June 16. In his previous three starts, Blyleven had given up only two runs in 22 2/3 innings but had not figured in any of the decisions.

The veteran right-hander gave up seven hits, allowing only two runners to reach second base after Tim Laudner homered for the Twins in the third inning, and did not walk anybody in improving his record to 8-2.

The loser, for the first time in a month, was left-hander Frank Viola, who had not been beaten by the Angels since April 23, 1987, defeating them three times without a loss last season and then setting them down again last Sunday.

Viola, last year’s Cy Young Award winner but only 7-9 this season, had allowed only one run in 26 innings before Friday night, winning his previous three starts. But the Angels got to him for eight hits, including a two-run homer by Lance Parrish and a run-scoring triple by Jack Howell.

Blyleven was more impressive.

“A terrific outing,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said of Blyleven’s work.

What impressed him most?

“Everything,” Rader said. “He had outstanding velocity, he located the ball well for strikes. He went nine innings and only threw 110 pitches, give or take a few, with no walks.”

Almost as importantly, the Angels supported him offensively.

“I felt more comfortable because the team scored some runs,” said Blyleven, who left last Sunday with a 1-0 lead.

In that game, which the Twins eventually won, 2-1, the Angels managed only four hits against Viola. This time, they had five in the first two innings, including the second-inning home run by Parrish, his ninth of the season but first against a Western Division opponent.

Parrish’s shot over the right-field wall gave the Angels a 2-0 lead and was the first home run allowed by Viola since May 19, when Ruben Sierra and Julio Franco of the Texas Rangers hit consecutive homers off him in the sixth inning of a 4-2 Ranger victory at Arlington, Tex.

In 71 innings since then, Viola hadn’t given up any.

The Angel lead lasted only momentarily, though. In the third inning, Greg Gagne singled to center field and Laudner followed with a homer that cleared the 370-foot sign in right-center field, pulling the Twins even at 2-2.

An irritated Blyleven took it out on his chewing gum, angrily hurling it toward the Angel dugout as Laudner’s blow sailed over the fence.

Rader, though, remained calm.

“It was at a point in the game when we still had plenty of time to score,” he said of Laudner’s fifth home run.

Indeed, in their half of the third, the Angels regained the lead. Wally Joyner was hit by a pitch with one out, moved to third on a ground single to right by Brian Downing and scored on a force-out by Devon White, whose speed prevented a double play.

A run-scoring triple by Howell, who missed Thursday night’s game because of food poisioning, gave the Angels a 4-2 lead in the sixth.

Howell, who blamed a tuna sandwich for his illness, still felt queasy when he awoke Friday morning. He skipped breakfast. But he said before the game, “I had lunch and it has stayed with me, so . . .”

So, he was in the lineup. His line drive skipped into the right-field corner and drove in Chili Davis, who had walked with one out.

In the eighth, a looping liner by Howell was mishandled by left fielder John Moses, allowing Davis to score from second base to increase the Angel lead to 5-2.

And Blyleven was sailing.

“I get stronger as the season goes on,” he said.

Angel Notes

Angel second baseman Johnny Ray, on the two-year contract extension he signed Thursday: “It’s done. What’s to talk about? I’m satisfied. That’s the main thing.” Ray, 32, would have been eligible for free agency this fall if he had remained unsigned . . . Third baseman Jack Howell, who was back in the Angel lineup after missing Thursday night’s game against the Texas Rangers because of food poisioning, said: “Me and my two boys had it.”

Claudell Washington, who has not played regularly since June 24, is still listed as day-to-day because of an infection in his left leg. Is the disabled list an option for the Angel right fielder? “Very much so,” Manager Doug Rader said.

Jimmie Reese, the Angels’ 83-year-old coach, said that his good friend, Nolan Ryan, is better now than when Ryan pitched for the Angels. “He’s smarter and has better control,” Reese said of the 42-year-old Ryan, who pitched a three-hitter Thursday night in the Rangers’ 3-0 victory over the Angels. “He’s come up with a change-of-pace, and he’s got the best curveball I’ve ever seen. And, besides, he’s the nicest man ever to put on a uniform.”