McCaskill Beats White Sox, 2-1 : Pitcher Hopes His Five-Hitter Ends Talk of Tired Arm

Ask Kirk McCaskill how his arm feels these days and you’ll get a monosyllabic answer such as “fine” or “good.” But if you ask him about the book he’s currently reading or the last movie he saw, you’re in for an interesting conversation.

McCaskill is fed up with questions about the “tired arm” that caused him to miss a start after the All-Star break. And he’s really sick of having to convince people that the bone chips in his right elbow, which ended his 1987 season after just 21 innings, and the nerve irritation in the same elbow, which cut short his 1988 season, are problems of the past.

So, Saturday night, the 28-year-old pitcher let his right arm do the talking. And it spoke volumes as McCaskill limited the Chicago White Sox to five hits over 8 1/3 innings as the Angels won, 2-1, before a crowd of 34,940 at Anaheim Stadium. Bryan Harvey got the final two outs and picked up his 15th save.

The victory lifted the Angels into a 2 1/2-game lead over Oakland in the American League West, their largest margin of the season, which was a nice little birthday gift for Manager Doug Rader, who turns 45 today. It was also their 10th win in the last 11 games and the 16th in the last 17 home games. And they’re now on a pace to win 100 games.

The Angels, who lead the majors with 97 home runs and have hit at least one in 64 of their 102 games, got Saturday night’s long ball from designated hitter Tony Armas, who was filling in for Brian Downing. Armas led off the fifth inning with a drive to dead center--his seventh homer of the year--giving the Angels a 2-0 lead.

Jack Howell, Claudell Washington and Johnny Ray provided McCaskill with a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Howell singled to right field, and Washington followed with a ground-rule double that one-hopped into the seats in right. Then Ray flied to deep left-center, enabling Howell to jog home.

“I think Kirk did a terrific job,” Rader said. “He located the ball well and changed speeds well. It’s gratifying because you like to see everyone on the club in a state of well-being.

“This was a really important game for him. The bad thing about anything negative that happens, from a performance or physical standpoint, is that you’re constantly reminded of it. And all that does is reinforce the problem.”

McCaskill is understandably sensitive about the subject of his health . . . or more appropriately, any lack thereof. Nobody wants to be known for spending more time on the disabled list than on the mound.

He began this season with the kinds of outings that temporarily dispelled any question about him, stretching his record to 7-1 before absorbing his second defeat. He also had an earned-run average of 1.70 or better through early June.

On June 9, however, he lost to Kansas City, giving up six runs in 3 1/3 innings. On June 20, he surrendered seven hits and five runs in a 1 2/3-inning stint during a loss to Toronto.

But the condition of his arm became an issue again on July 14 in Baltimore when he complained of soreness in his pitching elbow after a 2 2/3-inning, five-run outing. McCaskill was sent home and missed one scheduled turn before allowing seven hits and three runs during a five-inning performance in Oakland last Monday.

When asked if this game would end speculation about his arm, McCaskill managed a smile and said, “I hope so.

“I thought this was an important game for me,” he said. “I really pushed myself up in Oakland and didn’t really feel comfortable, but I still came away with good feelings.

“Tonight, I felt much more comfortable out there and I made some good pitches in the strike zone.”

Rader said all along that McCaskill’s midseason woes could be attributed to his lack of work during the previous two seasons. And he said that Monday’s somewhat shaky performance against the A’s was “no cause for concern.”

“Kirk went into that game with some trepidation,” Rader said, “but that’s just because he was getting his ears wet again after being idle for a while.”

There was no trepidation Saturday night, unless you count the White Sox batters, most of whom don’t have any doubts about McCaskill’s abilities. He helped shut them out, 3-0, in his first start in Chicago this season.

This time around, McCaskill didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, when Carlton Fisk hit a sharp grounder to third base that took a bad hop and hit Howell in the shoulder. The ball caromed to shortstop Dick Schofield, who had a shot at throwing out the slow-footed Fisk but couldn’t get a grip on the ball.

Designated hitter Greg Walker followed with a single up the middle, but McCaskill got Carlos Martinez to ground into an inning-ending force play.

The White Sox didn’t get another hit until the eighth, when Martinez hit a grounder to third that Howell was unable to backhand.

Then, with one out in the ninth, Daryl Boston looped a double down the left-field line, and Ivan Calderon blooped a run-scoring single to center to spoil the shutout.

McCaskill did shut out Ozzie Guillen, however, and the Chicago shortstop’s 18-game hitting streak came to a halt.

“With a little luck, (McCaskill) would have had a shutout,” Rader said. “A half-swing double and a jam-job single got to him. But this was a big win for him.”

Angel Notes

Brian Downing was not in the starting lineup Saturday night, getting a rest for the first time since April 28. The Angel designated hitter has been in obvious pain while taking batting practice lately, but both Downing and Angel Manager Doug Rader said that a chronic rib-cage pull had nothing to do with the day off. “That’s not the reason,” Downing said, when asked if the injury was bothering him. “It’s the same as it always is. I didn’t ask for the day off, but it doesn’t break my heart. I’m just not doing anything (with the bat) and that’s the reason, pure and simple.” Downing has just four hits in his last 28 at-bats, but Rader said he gave Downing a rest because “everyone needs to get away for a day” and not because he’s hurt or slumping. . . . Chicago Manager Jeff Torborg was ejected from a game for the first time this year, and it didn’t take him long. He ran out to argue a close play at first base in the first inning and apparently said all the wrong things in a hurry. First base umpire Tim Welke waved Torborg out of the game just a couple of seconds after the White Sox manager emerged from the dugout.

BAINES TRADED

Chicago White Sox trade outfielder Harold Baines to Texas Rangers in five-player deal. Story, Page 9.