Angels Look and Feel Better After Win, 6-0

Sunday was an emotional day for the Angels at Milwaukee County Stadium.

Their heightened sense of determination as they took the field, was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of dread, only to be replaced by relief.

Accustomed to winning series this season, the Angels didn’t want to drop two of three to the Brewers, but the result of the game became secondary in the seventh inning when right fielder Claudell Washington slammed into the wall while making a catch. He collapsed in pain on the warning track, holding his left shoulder.

Everyone in the Angel clubhouse was feeling considerably better after the game, however. The Angels had won, 6-0. Rookie Jim Abbott was impressive while earning his 10th victory. And, most important, Washington’s injury had been diagnosed by Brewer physician Paul Jacobs as merely a bruise.

“It’s not nearly as bad as we originally thought,” said Angel Manager Doug Rader, who sprinted step for step with trainer Ned Bergert to Washington’s side. “It’s not dislocated, anyway, but we’ll know more tomorrow.”

The possibility of a shoulder separation has not been ruled out. Washington will be examined today by Angel physician Lewis Yocum. The Angels could be without the services of their starting right fielder for a while, but Washington seemed relieved.

“I jammed it in there and then I was trying to roll over and get up and I couldn’t,” he said. “It was already sort of numb. I was just thinking how I didn’t want it to happen now.

“It’s throbbing a little now, but it’s numb because we’ve had ice on it.”

Even before Washington’s injury, the mood of the Angels, who have evolved into one of baseball’s looser teams, had changed.

“The atmosphere in here was a bit more serious before this game,” said reliever Greg Minton, who combined with Bryan Harvey to retire the last six Brewers in order, helping give the team its 16th shutout. “It was a different attitude, and I think that’s neat. I’m sure that feeling got stronger the longer the score was 0-0.”

For five innings, the crowd of 31,455 was wrapped up in a duel between rookies Abbott and Jaime Navarro. Abbott went seven innings, giving up only four hits, walking four and tying his career high in strikeouts with nine.

Navarro, who had only two years of professional pitching experience before this year, had not been invited to the Brewers’ major league training camp this spring. But he has become entrenched as a starter, and, for the first five innings, it was easy to understand.

After Washington tripled leading off the first inning, Navarro held the Angels without a hit until the sixth, when they scored four times on five singles and a walk.

Abbott never broke, and he said he still felt strong when Rader opted to go with Minton and Harvey in the eighth and ninth innings.

“I don’t think anything I can say about Jim Abbott would describe how we feel about him as a person or the way he pitched today,” Rader said. “Words are inadequate.

“Shutouts are wonderful. Ten or more strikeouts are wonderful. But he had already thrown 121 pitches and you have to figure he’s going throw more than 150 if he finishes. It wouldn’t be the proper thing for Jim or the team.”

Abbott may be only 21, but he seldom says anything but the right thing.

Sunday, he said that winning 10 games was a “little bit of a goal,” but that he wants to win more. He said that sure, he would like to break the Angels’ rookie record of 14, held by Frank Tanana (1974), Marcelino Lopez (1965) and Dean Chance (1962), but team goals are more important. He said he hasn’t even thought about the rookie-of-the-year award, but it would certainly be an honor to be considered.

And he didn’t come within a mile of criticizing Rader for taking him out.

“I felt good out there today,” he said, “and I still felt strong (when he was replaced). But it’s just as important for Greg and Bryan to work in these situations. We need them to be ready as much as myself when we go down to the wire.”

Apparently, the Angels aren’t the only ones who are starting to believe they will be in the thick of the race come September.

“We just faced a team with the best record in baseball,” Brewer Manager Tom Trebelhorn said. “Reality must be faced. When the team with the best record in baseball faces a team that’s been playing under .500 all year, logic says there’s a good chance we’ll get beat.

“Sometimes, reality isn’t fun.”

The Angels certainly are enjoying it. They even discovered a new way to win Sunday. It was the first time since May 8 that they have scored that many runs without the benefit of a home run.

“I don’t know if we’re the team to beat, but we are in first place,” Abbott said. “We have a lot of pride on this team. Maybe we don’t have the most famous players in baseball, but we have a lot of guys who are proud of each other.”

Also, the Angels have been fortunate to have few injuries and that’s usually a key factor in any successful season. Only five players--Johnny Ray, Tony Armas, Dick Schofield, Minton and Washington--have spent time on the disabled list.

And you can bet Rader and Co. have their fingers crossed, hoping that Washington won’t be back on the DL after he is examined today.

Angel Notes

Manager Doug Rader thinks one of the keys to his team’s success so far this season has been depth. “Andy (Kent Anderson), Hoffy (Glenn Hoffman), Billy (Schroeder) and the guys in the bullpen who don’t get the glamour work have all done their jobs very nicely,” Rader said. “Certainly, there are some players who have not played up to their capabilities at all times, but the fact that their efforts haven’t all coincided at the same time has been a big plus. Instead of winning a couple of games by big margins, we’ve been able to sustain a consistent effort. Joe has chipped in here, then Sam there and Elmer here. It’s been spread around and that helps.” Backup catcher Schroeder, who played Sunday and drove in a run, is hitting .230 with six home runs. Hoffman, who is hitting .257, and Anderson, who played right field after Washington was injured, have combined to make only eight errors in the 75 games they have played. And the three lesser-used Angel pitchers in the bullpen--Dan Petry, Rich Monteleone and Willie Fraser--have also done reasonably well. Petry is 3-0. Monteleone is 2-1 with a 2.45 earned-run average. And Fraser, who is 3-5 with one save, has a 2.82 ERA.

Catcher Lance Parrish, who had bruises on his rib cage and right knee from a collision Saturday night at home plate with Brewer Glenn Braggs, sat out of Sunday’s game. “The knee feels pretty good, but his side is pretty tender,” trainer Rick Smith said. “He’s day-to-day, but we’ve got (Monday) off, so we’ll see how he responds to treatments.” . . . Brewer Jaime Navarro, Sunday’s starting pitcher, is the son of former Angel pitcher Julio Navarro. The elder Navarro had a 5-6 record with nine saves in three years (1962-64) with the Angels. . . . Saturday night’s game against Oakland has been changed from a 7 p.m. start to a 12:20 p.m. start to accommodate NBC, which will televise the game. . . . Sunday’s game-time temperature was 57 degrees, 26 degrees cooler than the start of Saturday’s night game.