Washington Sees the Light in the Shadows : Outfielder Finds His Way Home as Angels Scratch a Run Off Lamp

The time on the Anaheim Stadium scoreboard was creeping toward 5:30 p.m., when Claudell Washington stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 14th inning on Sunday.

The Angels and Boston Red Sox were tied, 1-1, and neither team had mounted a serious threat since the Angels had tied the score back in the eighth. The traditional 14th-inning stretch--with a Tommy James and the Shondells’ song, “Mony, Mony” substituted for “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”--had come and gone. It was getting late.

If the Angels are to mount a late-season comeback and overtake division-leading Oakland, as they insist they can, this was the kind of game they needed to win.

Until the eighth, it appeared that Boston and Roger Clemens would record a 1-0 shutout and salvage the third game of the series. Oakland had beaten the New York Yankees, 6-2, so if the Angels were to remain within five games, they needed to win.

Clemens had a perfect game going until Devon White singled to left with one out in the fourth. He had seven strikeouts entering the eighth and had limited the Angels to three hits.

But Mark McLemore, the Angel second baseman, walked, went to second on a sacrifice and scored when Washington singled sharply to right.

“He’s tough enough to hit off at night, but when it’s twilight conditions (it’s nearly impossible),” Washington said of the shadows that stretched across home plate.

However, Washington said the pitch he hit was a fastball, Clemens’ best pitch and the most feared heater this side of Nolan Ryan.

The score remained tied until the 14th, when Washington led off the inning. Dennis Lamp had come on to pitch for the Red Sox in the 13th and looked strong, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

Washington stepped up against Lamp and promptly singled to right. White, the next batter, sacrificed Washington to second.

Next came Chili Davis, whose hard-hit grounder was smothered by a diving Reed. Reed jumped quickly to his feet but had no chance to get Davis at first.

Now the Angels had runners at first and third with one out and Wally Joyner up to bat. The Red Sox decided to walk Joyner intentionally, setting up a force at any base. To make it tougher, they also moved right fielder Carlos Quintana to the infield.

Brian Downing played right into their hands with a slow grounder to shortstop Luis Rivera, who was stationed halfway between second and third.

Rivera scooped up the ball but then bobbled it, dropped it, picked it up and bobbled it again as Washington made it home with the winning run.

“I never looked back,” Washington said. “I just took off for home.”

It was a strange ending to a strange game. But a victory, any victory, is vital to the Angels’ hopes.

Washington, among others, said the Angels are not done yet. He pointed to other teams that have rallied from similar September deficits.

“Look at what happened to the Cubs (in 1969),” he said. “Or the Phillies (in 1964). There’s a shot. As long as there’s a shot, we have to play hard.”

The Angels remain five games behind Oakland with 19 left to play.

“It could happen,” Washington said. “I’d like to see it happen.”

He paused for a moment and then added: “I know we can come back.”

If an Angel rally comes to pass, Washington’s contributions in Sunday’s victory will be remembered as one of the keys.