Angels Lose in 10th Inning; Injury Will Sideline Schofield

The Oakland Athletics are here, braced for 1989’s final regular-season meeting between the leaders in the American League West, but where are the Angels?

Catcher Lance Parrish is out with aching ribs.

Designated Brian Downing is out with the latest flare-up of his rib cage injury.

And now shortstop Dick Schofield is out, for an anticipated two to three weeks, after breaking his left hand in the third inning of the Angels’ 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Seattle Mariners Thursday night before 26,924 at Anaheim Stadium.

Angel timing, cursed for 29 straight summers, strikes again.

On the eve of their most important series of the season, after spending four months fending off the injury-ravaged A’s, the Angels found themselves suddenly in worse condition than the Bashed Brothers.

And the night began so promisingly for the Angels. Claudell Washington, missing since the weekend because of a bruised shoulder, returned to the starting lineup and singled home a run. Chuck Finley, bidding for his 14th victory, had nine strikeouts after five innings, on his way to 12 over nine-plus innings.

But in the bottom of third, Seattle starter Scott Bankhead hit Schofield in the hand with an errant fastball, resulting in a fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone. Once X-rays determined the break, Schofield had the hand placed in a splint, facing a stint on the disabled list that could extend until September.

Seven innings later, with the score tied, at 2-2, Mariner third baseman Jim Presley opened the 10th inning with a home run to center field, sending Finley to his eighth defeat of the season.

Through nine innings, Finley had allowed only three hits--and only one scratch single by Alvin Davis after the second. In one stretch, Finley retired 20 of 23 batters, yielding just a trio of walks.

Angel Manager Doug Rader tried to milk one more inning out of him, but the 10th proved to be more than enough.

Immediately following Presley’s home run, Finley walked Dave Valle and was through for the night. Relievers Willie Fraser and Bob McClure then came on to close out the inning.

That meant the Angels would have to face Seattle’s ace reliever, Mike Schooler, in the bottom of the 10th--and that, not surprisingly, resulted in frustration. Three Angels up, three Angels down--and Schooler had his 23rd save.

The victory went to Mike Jackson (4-5), who recorded the final two outs of the ninth.

Finley fell behind quickly, yielding a two-run home run in the second inning on the first pitch he threw to Henry Cotto, thus continuing one of the quirkier streaks to crop up this season. For Cotto, the hit was his third home run in as many at-bats--each of them coming on the first pitch.

Three pitches, three homers.

Of course, Cotto hadn’t appeared in a game since Aug. 1, so he had some time to prepare between pitches.

The Angels tied the score, 2-2, in the third. Jack Howell led off with a walk before Schofield was hit with the pitch that figures to sideline him through August. Schofield left the game immediately, giving way to pinch-runner Kent Anderson.

Howell scored on a single to right by Washington. Anderson took third on the hit and came home on another single by Johnny Ray.

The Angels had opportunities to break the tie in the sixth and seventh innings, only to leave a runner stranded at third both times.

In the sixth, Ray singled and advanced to third on a one-out single by Wally Joyner--but was left there as Tony Armas flied to right and Chili Davis struck out.

In the seventh, the Angels loaded the bases via walks to Howell and Ray and an infield single by Washington. But with two out, White snuffed the threat by flying out to center field.

That out proved to be the last pitch of the evening for Seattle starter Scott Bankhead. To open the eighth, Mariner Manager Jim Lefebvre brought on Keith Comstock, who retired the side in order and struck out Bill Schroeder in the ninth before surrendering a single to Howell.

Jackson then replaced Comstock and promptly walked Anderson. But again, Howell remained stranded in scoring position as Comstock got Washington and Ray both to fly out.

In the 10th, Schooler faced the Angels’ No. 3-4-5 hitters and retired them in order--Devon White on a fly to right, Joyner on a pop to shortstop and Armas on a grounder to shortstop.

Angel Notes

You can tell the Athletics are coming to town by the way the wounded Angels are lining up to take batting practice. Thursday, catcher Lance Parrish tested his sore ribs in the cage and tonight, Brian Downing is planning to do the same. Parrish, in fact, was lobbying to play Thursday, telling reporters, “I feel like I’m ready to play, but I’m having trouble convincing everyone else. They don’t want to rush anything.” The prognosis was for Parrish to miss seven to 10 games, but Parrish said, “I’m trying to speed it up. I’m used to playing with injuries. If need be, I could play (tonight). The big problem is, everyone feels I might set myself back. Personally, I don’t feel I could do that, unless I get hit at the plate or something like that.” If Parrish does play, it will probably be as a designated hitter.

The Angels-A’s series, billed as the playoff before the playoffs, is receiving the proper treatment. Media interest in the three games has prompted the Angels to install an extra row of temporary seats for the press, and advance ticket sales have broken Angel club records. The Angels announced the following pregame sale totals for the series: tonight--53,000; Saturday--48,000; Sunday--51,000. That’s a three-game total of 152,000, eclipsing the Angels’ previous record for a three-game series at Anaheim Stadium--146,010, set in 1982 against Kansas City.