Back to Wall, Abbott Gives Angels a Lift

The day after the blitz, when the Boston Red Sox strafed seven Angel pitchers for 30 hits and 21 runs in a doubleheader sweep, struggling Angel rookie Jim Abbott took his turn on the Fenway Park mound.

Preparations were made.

Terry Clark, scheduled to start Friday night in New York, volunteered to give up that assignment and move to the bullpen, just in case. Bert Blyleven volunteered to take Clark’s turn in the rotation, which would mean he’d have to pitch on three days’ rest come Friday. And shortstop Kent Anderson, emergency relief specialist, volunteered his services again, should things really turn ugly.

Wednesday evening, Abbott kept them all waiting.

Righting both himself and his team with a startling four-hit, complete-game performance, Abbott shut out the Red Sox, 4-0, before 34,182 at Fenway Park, moving the Angels back within two games of first-place Oakland in the American League West.

It was the Angels’ 19th, least-expected and most significant shutout of the season, all things considered. Among them were:

--The nine-game winning streak Boston took into the game.

--The depleted state of the Angel bullpen, which could scarcely afford another early-inning washout by a starting pitcher.

--Fenway Park, historically a chamber of horrors for left-handed pitchers, particularly 21-year-old ones.

--Abbott’s recent slump. Winless in his last three starts and 1-3 in his last five, Abbott was pushed back in the rotation--giving him six days’ rest instead of four--because the Angel coaching staff believed he was beginning to show fatigue.

After shutting out the Red Sox for the second time this season--he beat Roger Clemens, 5-0, on May 17 in Anaheim--Abbott joked about the cautious handling he’d received and all the pregame care that went into this start.

“I should’ve pitched a complete game--I’ve had enough rest,” Abbott said.

But a shutout? At Fenway, whose green walls were riddled by so many Boston hits the night before?

“I think they got a little tired scoring so many runs last night,” Abbott said.

Could be. Abbott has a habit of getting right to the heart of the matter, even if he doesn’t always pick the proper place to state it. Abbott made this observation to a cable television reporter, whose live feed was patched into the Angel clubhouse for the viewing pleasure of the battered Angel pitching staff.

So when hearing Abbott’s crack about the exhausted Red Sox, Angel reliever Bob McClure arched an eyebrow and raised his voice, demanding, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Gee, give up 21 runs in one night and everyone gets a little sensitive.

McClure was only kidding. The mood in the Angel clubhouse was light again--and not surprisingly, what with Abbott giving every other pitcher on the roster the evening off.

Abbott (11-9) snapped Boston’s nine-game surge by limiting the Red Sox to doubles by Marty Barrett and Mike Greenwell, a single by Ellis Burks and a bunt single by Luis Rivera. He was only in trouble once, in the third inning, with the bases loaded and Greenwell at bat.

The predicament was partly Abbott’s fault--he walked Rick Cerone and Barrett--but Angel second baseman Johnny Ray also had a hand in it. With two out, Ray misplayed a routine grounder by Burks into an error, loading the bases for Boston’s cleanup hitter.

Abbott didn’t risk another mishap afield and retired Greenwell on his own with a quick strikeout.

Another Red Sox runner would not see third base again.

“That was a key moment,” Abbott said. “The game was still up for grabs. They’re such a good-hitting team, and with them playing as well as they are, it could’ve (meant) a big momentum swing for them.”

Boston Manager Joe Morgan certainly thought so.

“When you’ve walked two guys and you get an error like that and the other team’s hot, you kind of expect a score in that situation,” Morgan said. “Then when (your) guy doesn’t deliver, you kind kind of wonder if it’s not going to be your night.”

The Angels scored all the runs Abbott would need against Boston starter John Dopson (9-6) in the fourth inning. A single by Chili Davis, a walk to Brian Downing and another single by Jack Howell produced one run before Anderson drove home two more with a double to left field.

Anderson, whose big league pitching debut was ruined when rain halted Tuesday’s second game after 7 1/2 innings, added another double in the eighth inning, which contributed to another Angel run. Lance Parrish scored from first on the play when Red Sox right fielder Kevin Romine, trying to throw Anderson out at second base, wound up throwing the ball away instead.

When Abbott continued to coast through the Boston batting order, Anderson knew that debut would have to delay until some other, distant day.

“Luckily, I didn’t have to get in there tonight,” Anderson said.

Anyway, hitting’s more his game, right?

“Sometimes,” Anderson said with a laugh. “Sometimes. Not as often as I’d like.”

Abbott took care of the pitching. With a seven-strikeout, 129-pitch performance, Abbott recorded his second major-league shutout, helped the Angels reclaim a game in the AL West standings and, perhaps most importantly, gave the Angel bullpen some time to heal.

“It was important for us to get our pitching back intact,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “Maybe things are starting to come together.”

That beats the Angel outlook of Tuesday night, when everywhere they turned, everything seemed to be falling apart.

Angel Notes

Apparently, a little autonomy can go a long way. Wednesday night, Angel Manager Doug Rader credited Jim Abbott’s sudden pitching reversal to “adjustments” made by pitching coach Marcel Lachemann--adjustments that entailed giving Abbott more strategic freedom on the mound. Previously, Abbott was told when to pitch out, when to throw over to first base, even when to step off the pitching rubber by Rader and Lachemann from the Angel bench. Wednesday, in Rader’s words, “We just turned the game over to Abbott.” The result, according to Lachemann, was a more aggressive and assured pitcher.