Schofield Shoulders Angel Win : A Lucky Bounce Helps Defeat White Sox, 6-5

As they stood on the mound, waiting for reliever Bobby Thigpen to make his way in from the bullpen, Donn Pall, Carlton Fisk and Ozzie Guillen watched the replay on the screen high above the wall in left field.

They couldn’t have liked what they saw.

A throw by first baseman Ivan Calderon had glanced off the left shoulder of the Angels’ Dick Schofield, who had laid down a sacrifice bunt, and the ball had bounced over the glove of second baseman Steve Lyons and carried down the line, allowing Jack Howell to reach third base in the ninth inning.

Moments later, Claudell Washington scored Howell with a fly to left field, giving the Angels a 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox before a crowd of 32,620 Friday night at Anaheim Stadium.

It made a loser of Pall, who had relieved starter Richard Dotson in the sixth and retired seven straight batters before Howell led off the ninth with his third hit, a line-drive single to center field that was trapped, in the opinion of second-base umpire Tim Welke, by Dave Gallagher.

The win, the Angels’ ninth in 10 games, went to reliever Bryan Harvey (3-2), who benefited from the Angels’ 23rd come-from-behind victory after surviving a rocky ninth inning in which the White Sox tied the score.

“I know I made a good throw,” Calderon said of the pivotal play, adding that Schofield raised his arm to deflect the ball.

Schofield didn’t even realize the throw had hit him, he said, until Angel coach Moose Stubing asked him about it later.

“I just tried to run in the baseline,” Schofield said.

The comeback in the ninth was the Angels’ third of the night.

Greg Walker gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead with a home run in the second inning, a no-doubt-about-it drive off Angel starter Bert Blyleven that landed five rows deep in the football seats beyond the wall in right field.

The Angels pulled even in the fourth when center fielder Devon White, who took an extra-base hit away from Calderon with a running catch in the first inning, switched his attention to offense.

White lined a pitch through the gap in right-center field, then sprinted around the bases, sliding head-first into third base, ahead of a relay throw from second baseman Lyons, for a leadoff triple.

The All-Star center fielder used his sprinter’s speed again moments later, scoring easily on a shallow fly to center by Wally Joyner.

A lot less spectacularly, but just as efficiently, Walker stretched a single into a double to lead off the fifth. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound first baseman moved to third on a ground-out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Guillen to put the White Sox ahead again, 2-1.

It wasn’t long before the Angels pulled even again.

Howell led off the fifth by lifting a towering drive into the Angel bullpen in right field. The home run was the 16th of the season and fourth in five games for the left-handed-hitting third baseman, who has hit his last 15 home runs against right-handed pitchers.

It also was Howell’s seventh home run in July, establishing a career high for one month, and his 12th in 35 games.

Equally as important, though, was his run-scoring double in the sixth off Pall, who replaced Dotson after Dotson walked Brian Downing with one out and then gave up a single to Chili Davis.

Pall retired Lance Parrish, but Howell’s wicked bouncer glanced off the glove of Walker and carried down the right-field line.

Schofield then lined a two-run single into right field, scoring Davis and Howell to give the Angels a 5-2 lead.

In the seventh, the White Sox scored twice to chase Blyleven, who gave up a single through the right side by Dan Pasqua and, two outs later, a double down the left-field line by Carlos Martinez, before Guillen flared a single into left field to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.

Reliever Bob McClure came on to get Gallagher, who was unable to beat a strong throw from Howell after bouncing a grounder deep to the left side.

Greg Minton took over for McClure with one on and one out in the eighth, got out of the inning and struck out Fisk to start the ninth. But then he walked Walker and gave up a single to Martinez.

On came Harvey, whose first pitch was bounced back over the mound and through the middle by Guillen, scoring pinch-runner Daryl Boston.

A passed ball put runners at second and third before Gallagher drew a walk, loading the bases. The threat ended when Lyons popped out to the shortstop and Baines, one of the league’s best hitters, grounded into a force-out.

“In that situation, it’s very easy for a pitcher to lose a game,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “Bryan Harvey, very much to his credit, refused to do that. He got two very important outs.”

Even more important plays for the Angels were forthcoming.