Blyleven Delivers a 1-0 Win

Closing out an ill-fated trip of disputed home runs, managerial ejections and last-moment defeats, the Angels finally had the right man at the right place at the right time Tuesday night.

The man was Bert Blyleven.

The place was the pitching mound at the SkyDome.

The time was the tail end of a five-game Angel losing streak, with the Angel offense in the process of managing only one run off Toronto Blue Jay starter Jimmy Key.

So Blyleven knew what he had to do. And he did it, pitching the Angels to a 1-0 victory before a crowd of 48,717, keeping his team percentage points ahead of the Oakland Athletics atop the American League West standings.

“There are some special people who play this game who have timing,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “They know how and when to do things.

“Bert’s one of them.”

Blyleven (10-2) responded to Wally Joyner’s home run with a five-hitter and the 57th shutout of his career, moving him past Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan into a tie for 11th place all-time with Pud Galvin.

And Blyleven had a sense of the urgency around his assignment when he accepted it.

“We’d lost five or six games in a row, so I knew I had to go out and bear down,” Blyleven said. “I knew I was going to win tonight. I had that feeling tonight. All I wanted was a run.”

Blyleven smiled.

“Of course, it would’ve been nice to have four or five,” he said.

That type of run production wasn’t forthcoming against Key, whose record dropped to 7-10 despite his five-hitter. Other than Joyner, only two Angels reached second base.

Joyner’s homer to right field came in the sixth inning. It was his fourth home run of the season, but his second in three days.

Could the old power stroke of ’86 and ’87 be making a belated comeback?

“Dunno,” Joyner said. “I can’t answer that. . . . If you ask Jimmy Key, I’m sure he’ll tell you it was a mistake pitch. I was as surprised as he was.”

Blyleven limited Toronto to five singles, and only one Blue Jay reached second base. That was Tom Lawless in the eighth inning, who pinch-ran after Rance Mulliniks singled and stole second.

But Blyleven retired Manny Lee on strikes, stranding Lawless.

The only real scare Blyleven encountered was provided by George Bell with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Bell sent Angel right fielder Claudell Washington to the warning track for his drive.

Fred McGriff then struck out and the Angel losing streak was over.

“Look at the difference in this game,” Rader said.

“Bert throws one breaking ball to (Bell) with just enough topspin so it doesn’t go out of the park. Key throws a similar pitch to Wally, but just a little higher, and it goes out.

“A whole game is decided by the elevation of two breaking balls. Fantastic.”

The Angels had their chances to make the night easier on Blyleven.

In the first inning, on Washington’s first at-bat since leaving the disabled list earlier in the day, the Blue Jays made two errors. First, left fielder Bell dropped a pop foul to extend the at-bat. First baseman McGriff followed by botching Washington’s eventual grounder near the foul line, allowing Washington to reach first.

He didn’t remain there long. While pitching to the next batter, Dick Schofield, Key whirled and picked Washington off first base.

In the second inning, Brian Downing lined a one-out single, only to wind up as the first out of Chili Davis’ 20th double-play grounder of the season.

In the fourth inning, Washington singled and was bunted to second--but was stranded there when as Joyner popped out and Tony Armas flied out.

Finally, in the fifth inning, the Angels got back-to-back singles by Lance Parrish and Glenn Hoffman. But they put them together with two out. Kent Anderson, the Angels’ No. 9 hitter, ended the threat by flying out to right.

So, it was left to a fly ball by Joyner one inning later for the Angels to salvage the victory, along with a 2-5 trip.

“Aesthetically, it was beautiful,” Rader said of the victory. “I’m sure (the Blue Jays) are a proud of the effort Jimmy Key gave them, but to win this one was more meaningful for us.”

Angel Notes

To make room for Claudell Washington’s return from the disabled list, the Angels sent a .500 hitter to the minor leagues Tuesday. Yes, Max Venable is Edmonton bound, despite going 10 for 20 with two RBIs in eight games with the Angels. One of those, the now infamous Mike Devereaux game, was a four-hit game for Venable, his first as a major leaguer. “It wasn’t my decision,” Venable said. “But I knew it was coming. Doug (Rader) told me in Baltimore. And that, actually, took a little pressure off me. I knew Claudell would be coming back, so I decided to have a little fun and try to make the team.” And, in the process, make a lasting impression. “Our roster maneuverability is very limited right now,” Rader said. “To re-instate Claudell, we really had no other choice. But the bottom line is that I’m very happy for Max. This places him in a very favorable position in the future.”

One of the reasons the Angels decided to demote Venable and not a pitcher, Rader said, was the uncertain status of starter Kirk McCaskill, who left the team Saturday to return home for medical testing. McCaskill was diagnosed as having an irritation of the joint in his right elbow and will be held out of his next start, scheduled for Thursday. “He’s getting better,” Rader said. “In fact, he probably could’ve made his start on Thursday. But under advisement of our doctors, we’ll hold him out once and he’ll definitely come back the 10th day.” So, until McCaskill returns, Rader will be working, in essence, with a 10-man pitching staff.

Twenty-four hours after the fact, Devon White’s 10-game hitting streak was reduced to nine and ended. In the second game of Monday’s doubleheader, White was credited with a hit when his sharp grounder deflected off third baseman Kelly Gruber’s glove into the reach of shortstop Tony Fernandez, who threw home to retire Johnny Ray, breaking from third base. White was given a hit because, in the opinion of the official scorer, he would have beaten the throw to first if Fernandez had instead directed the ball there. But before Tuesday’s game, it was announced that the scorer had reversed his decision, which meant White wound up with a fielder’s choice and the opportunity to begin a new streak.