Angels Steadied by McCaskill, 1-0, After Stumbling

For about an hour Sunday, it appeared the Angels might rue this otherwise pleasant afternoon as the day they let one get away and dropped out of first place. But these days, even their most obvious sins are washed clean by victory.

The Angels won their fifth game in row Sunday, beating Cleveland, 1-0, before 32,640 at Anaheim Stadium. But the biggest crowd reaction was not an ovation for pitcher Kirk McCaskill, who gave up four hits and struck out seven to improve to 13-7. It was the boos that greeted Devon White when he stepped to the plate in sixth inning.

The Angels lost at least one run--and the chance to break a scoreless tie--on a bizarre play in the fourth inning, hence the crowd’s wrath.

White had broken up starter Bud Black’s perfect game with a leadoff single to left, one of only three Angel hits against Black. Kent Anderson followed with a single up the middle and the Angels had runners on first and third with none out. One out later, Wally Joyner hit a high fly ball to deep right-center.

Indian right fielder Joey Belle camped under the ball and made the catch. White tagged up and started jogging home and Anderson tagged and sprinted for second. But Anderson hesitated, and then stumbled, and Belle’s throw to shortstop Felix Fermin was in time to get the crawling Anderson.

Home plate umpire Ken Kaiser then ruled that White did not touch the plate before the out at second.

White, who said he didn’t think Anderson would try to take second, insisted that he scored ahead of the tag. Anderson said he didn’t really know what happened, except that he lost his footing and didn’t have the presence of mind to stay where he was and ensure that White scored before Anderson was tagged out.

And Manager Doug Rader, who rarely criticizes his players, denied that either player had erred.

“Under normal circumstances, both should have been safe, but these things happen,” he said.

Such plays sometimes affect a season. But thanks primarily to McCaskill, the Angels won’t have to reflect on this game. They left on a 15-game, 15-day trip still atop the American League West standings.

McCaskill doesn’t watch his teammates hit, preferring to hide in the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. So there was no way he could have been bothered by the Angels’ inept baserunning. He even asked reporters after the game what had happened.

So, unfazed, he kept the Indians from advancing beyond second base and retired the last 12 in a row, three on strikeouts.

“McCaskill pitched one hell of a game,” Cleveland Manager Doc Edwards said. “He was just too tough today.”

McCaskill, who lowered his earned-run average to 2.83, leads the league in shutouts with four. He says he begins every game with the intent of pitching a shutout, but “it usually doesn’t work out that way.”

“I got a little tired near the end and started to let the ball get up a little,” McCaskill said. “But one thing I learned from (former Angel Manager) Gene Mauch is that if you’re consistently down, you can away with a few pitches up. I worked all week on staying down and, most of the time, I kept the ball down.”

Black didn’t make many mistakes, either, but third baseman Brook Jacoby made one that was the difference in the game. Black (9-10) walked none and struck out four, pitching what he called “a great game.”

Anderson led off the seventh with a sharp grounder to third and the ball skidded under Jacoby’s glove and into left field for a two-base error.

“I pulled up too soon,” Jacoby said. “I anticipated the ball coming up, but it stayed down. I should’ve kept the glove down and at least knocked it down.”

Johnny Ray followed with a sacrifice bunt and Joyner hit a fly ball to center. And this time Anderson sprinted, head down, the 90 feet to beat Carter’s throw to the plate. No hesitation. No stumble.

“I figured it would be pretty close,” Anderson said. “After running out from under my feet (in the fourth), I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible.”

The Angels say they don’t have that sentiment about their trip to Kansas City, Texas, Boston and New York.

“I think we’ve got things in the proper perspective,” Rader said. “We’re in the right frame of mind. Sure, we have to perform, but I don’t think we’re putting any undue pressure on ourselves.”

McCaskill, for one, believes the pressure is off the Angels, who already have exceeded expectations.

“I think we all understand we don’t have anything to prove anymore,” he said. “We’re more than 120 games into the season and we’ll either do it or we won’t on this trip. But we proved ourselves as a ballclub, regardless.”

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Angel Notes

Catcher Bill Schroeder, who said Saturday that his sore right arm felt “much better,” Sunday was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 11. Right-hander Rich Monteleone was recalled from triple-A affiliate Edmonton. Schroeder, who has a strained ligament in his right elbow, underwent elbow surgery in 1985 and then missed more than a month in 1986 because of the same injury. He is hitting .214 with six home runs and 15 runs batted in. Monteleone was recalled for the third time this season; he is 2-1 and has a 2.45 earned-run average in 17 appearances with the Angels. . . . Pitcher Kirk McCaskill said that rookie John Orton, who made his major league debut Sunday, was the “hero of the game.” “When I found out John was catching, I figured I might have to pretty much call the game myself,” McCaskill said. “I had to shake him off a couple of times, but once we’d been through their lineup one time, I quit worrying about calling and just started throwing. He knew exactly what we wanted to do.” Manager Doug Rader called Orton “as good a young catcher as I’ve ever seen.”

Center fielder Devon White said Sunday’s victory was important because the Angels won with three rookies--Kent Anderson, Bobby Rose and Orton--in the lineup. “With Lance (Parrish), Jack (Howell) and Claudell (Washington) on the bench, we lose a little punch out of our lineup,” he said. “We didn’t swing the bat like we can today, but we still won.” . . . If Tony Armas and Brian Downing each hit one more home run, the Angels would set a club record with eight players in double figures in home runs. The others: Chili Davis (19), Howell (18), Parrish (16), White (12), Wally Joyner (11) and Washington (10).

Indians, 1-0, Sunday.