Chili Relishes His Three-Run Homer in First : Davis Proving to Be More Productive With Runners on Base This Season

Angel left fielder Chili Davis, tired of his reputation for leaving runners on base, took out his frustration on Rod Nichols’ fastball Saturday night.

Davis drilled a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to help give the Angels a 7-4 victory over Cleveland before 40,574 at Anaheim Stadium.

With two outs, Davis jumped on Nichols’ first pitch, a fastball over the center of the plate, for his sixth three-run home run of the season. The homer drove in Devon White and Wally Joyner to give the Angels a 3-0 lead.

“The only thing better than that is a grand slam,” Davis said. “One of those (a three-run home run) can put you in a game or take you out of one. If you put it out, you take them out of the game. If they hit it against you, then you’re out of it.”

Davis said he felt good at the plate Saturday.

“I just reacted to the pitch,” he said. “Nichols threw his share of fastballs.”

Three-run homers haven’t always been Davis’ forte.

During his nine-year major league career, including seven seasons with the San Francisco Giants, Davis developed a habit of leaving runners stranded. He let pitchers out of jams with bad swings, ground balls and an occasional fly out.

“You can count them (runners stranded) by the hundreds,” Davis said. “The reason I left so many on base was because I wasn’t swinging well. I would swing at bad pitches and would take good ones.”

But this season, Davis has been more selective--and productive. As a result, he leads the Angels in homers (19) and runs batted in (71).

Angel first baseman Joyner, who hit a solo homer off reliever Rich Yett in the fifth inning, said Davis has a powerful swing.

“When Chili gets a hold of a pitch, it has a good chance to get out of any park,” he said.

Davis entered the game hitting .150 against Cleveland this season. He had three RBIs this season off Indian pitchers, including two in the Angels’ 6-5 victory Friday night.

“I really don’t worry about statistics,” he said. “Hitting .300 would be nice, but I have my share of homers and RBIs.”

And so do the rest of the Angels, who lead the majors with 122 homers.

Four Angels homered Saturday night--Davis, Joyner, Jack Howell and Lance Parrish in the eighth. All were solo homers except Davis’.

Davis said he isn’t surprised by the Angels’ home run total.

“We have a lot of strong guys on this team,” he said. “We have a lot of power.”