Witt Looks Like an Ace Again, 9-3 : Angels Are Rolling, Twins Are Reeling Into All-Star Break

Mike Witt was expected to carry the Angel pitching staff this season, but until now, has been the weak link to a surprisingly strong corps.

Pitchers have set the pace for the Angels, but without much help from Witt, who for years has been the team’s ace. He was 3-7 on June 12.

But Witt (7-7) gained his fourth consecutive victory Sunday as the Angels entered the All-Star break with a 9-3 victory over Minnesota, which has lost six in a row.

“My goal was to be 8-7 at the break,” Whitt said. “But coming from where I was, 7-7 is not bad at all. This is definitely the best staff I’ve ever been on.

“That’s helped me a lot, because I’ve struggled. But I finally realized I didn’t have to go out there and pitch a shutout every time, just do my best.”

Witt went seven innings, giving up six hits and two runs as the Angels held the opposition to three runs or fewer for the 13th consecutive game.

The Twins have been victimized in seven of those games, their only victory coming 2-1 last Sunday in Minnesota. The Twins have lost six in a row since that triumph by left-hander Frank Viola.

“That team obviously is too much for us to handle,” Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly said. “We used four pitchers and none of them could stop them. And I can’t say enough about their pitching.”

Brian Downing’s two-run homer and Johnny Ray’s two-run single keyed the Angels’ 15-hit attack.

With their third consecutive victory and 13th in 16 games, the Angels swept into the annual All-Star break with a record of 52-33, best in the major leagues.

Wally Joyner opened the second with a single before Downing hit his ninth homer, off Allan Anderson (9-7) for a 2-1 lead. Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the inning on Gary Gaetti’s 16th homer.

Dick Schofield doubled in the third and scored on Joyner’s single to make it 3-1 and the Angels added an unearned run in the fourth.

Tony Armas singled and was safe at second when Lance Parrish’s grounder to short was juggled by Greg Gagne for an error. Schofield then doubled home Armas.

California made it 6-1 against reliever Mike Dyer in the sixth on Ray’s single.

Gene Larkin singled and Brian Harper doubled with no outs in the seventh, but the Twins managed only one run on Doug Baker’s sacrifice fly.

The Angels made it 7-2 in the bottom of the inning on Parrish’s RBI single. Kent Hrbek homered for the Twins in the eighth, his ninth.