Finley Just Manages to Keep the Angels Afloat in 7-3 Win

Three innings were complete Tuesday night, three Minnesota Twins had been walked, three Minnesota Twins had scored and, overall, things were going just swimmingly for Angel starting pitcher Chuck Finley.

Or, in his words: “I felt like I was swimming in the ocean and somebody kept handing me rocks and I kept getting heavier and heavier.”

Finley knew this was no time to take the plunge. The Oakland Athletics were headed for a victory in their game at Cleveland and for the Angels to keep pace in the American League West race, Finley had to keep plugging.

So he weathered three more choppy innings and waited for someone to throw him a line. It finally came in the seventh inning, with six Angel runs already in and relief pitcher Greg Minton making his way to the mound.

Three innings later, Minton and Bryan Harvey had successfully protected a 7-3 Angel victory over Minnesota at the Metrodome on a night in which status quo was all the Angels wanted.

With 11 games to play, the Angels continue to trail first-place Oakland by 2 1/2 games and lead the third-place Kansas City Royals by one game. The Athletics burned another game off their magic number--it now stands at 10--but the Angels were glad to get away that easily on a night when Finley looked for all the world like a pitcher making only his second start in a month.

Which, of course, he was.

Taking his second turn in the rotation after sitting out 24 days with a sprained foot ligament, Finley pitched a sloppy six innings Tuesday night. He gave up just three hits, but one was a two-run home run to Kirby Puckett. He also walked six--a season high--and put eight runners on base in the first four innings.

But because Minnesota starter Kevin Tapani ran aground in less than four innings, yielding 10 hits and six runs, Finley was granted enough margin for error to boost his record to 16-8, courtesy of some bullpen assistance.

“I’m not overjoyed tonight for myself,” Finley said. “It was good for the team, but six walks is nothing to brag about. . . . Mechanically, I was all screwed up.”

Finley was in trouble from the outset, walking the first two hitters he faced--Al Newman and Dan Gladden--to earn a quick mound-side chat with Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann. After receiving help from Angel catcher Lance Parrish, who threw out Newman attempting to steal second, and Puckett, who flied to center for the second out, Finley was partially sabotaged by his own second baseman, Mark McLemore.

McLemore, making his third consecutive start in place of Johnny Ray, bobbled a potential inning-ending grounder off Brian Harper’s bat, an error that allowed Gladden to score from third.

It took another throw down to second base by Parrish, this time foiling Harper on a steal attempt, to escort Finley to the sanctuary of the Angel dugout.

In the second inning, Finley walked Kent Hrbek. In the third inning, Finley walked no one, but did allow Puckett to walk around the bases after his eighth home run of the season. Coming with Newman on base, that hit temporarily sliced Finley’s lead to a precarious 4-3.

“He was struggling,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “He lost it early, got it back, lost it again. But, he got us through six.”

And that’s all the Angels were asking. Finley allowed four more baserunners during his last three innings of work, punching out after 97 draining pitches, but succeeded in the prevention of additional Minnesota runs.

“That’s the nice thing about Chuck Finley,” Rader said. “How many guys struggle that hard and still wind up giving up only three hits and three runs--and winning?”

For one, not Tapani. The rookie right-hander, part of the price the New York Mets paid to bring Frank Viola across National League lines, worked a perfect first inning and then crumbled. By the time he recorded eight more outs, the Angels had 10 hits and six runs.

Three runs scored in the second inning when Wally Joyner, Chili Davis, Claudell Washington and Parrish delivered consecutive singles.

Another run scored in the third inning when McLemore doubled and Davis singled him home.

Two more runs scored in the fourth inning when Jack Howell doubled, Kent Anderson singled, Brian Downing hit a sacrifice fly, McLemore singled and Devon White doubled.

Tapani was gone after making that last pitch to White, but the Angels had seen enough to convince themselves that the Viola trade was fine with them.

“I don’t know how we beat that guy,” Joyner shouted sarcastically as the Angels filed into their clubhouse after the final out.

One night earlier, the Angels had knocked Tapani’s former Met teammate, David West, out after only three innings.

So far this series, the Twins’ loss has most definitely been the Angels’ gain.

And Tuesday night, Finley was most grateful for the help.

“I don’t know about me being good tonight,” Finley said. “Tonight was more me being lucky. I walked six guys, but I was able to get out of it.”

Seven Angel runs and three innings of Angel relief proved to be enough for that awful sinking feeling.

Angel Notes

Johnny Ray’s displeasure over Doug Rader’s new lineup, which leaves Ray on the bench while Mark McLemore bats second, led to a closed-door meeting between player and manager after Tuesday’s game. Earlier, Ray had expressed dismay to reporters about the move and the fact Rader hadn’t taken time to explain the rationale behind the switch. So, Rader obliged him--”It’s been resolved,” was Rader’s only comment on the discussion--but remains committed to McLemore as his second baseman for the time being. “The fact of the matter is that, right now, Mark’s doing a good job,” Rader said. McLemore had a double and a single and scored a run in five at-bats Tuesday. In his three games since displacing Ray in the batting order, McLemore is hitting .384 (five for 13) with three runs and two RBIs.

Kirby Puckett’s third-inning home run against Chuck Finley was Puckett’s first since July 25, a span of 52 games. A two-run shot, the home run gave Puckett with 80 RBIs for the season and 501 RBIs for his career. This is Puckett’s sixth full big league season. . . . Claudell Washington countered with a bases-empty home run for the Angels in the fifth inning against Minnesota reliever Juan Berenguer. Measured at a distance of 401 feet, the home run was Washington’s 13th of the season.

The Twins assembled a minor threat in the bottom of the ninth when Gene Larkin walked and Kent Hrbek singled to open the inning. That development led to the Angels changing relief pitchers, replacing Greg Minton with Bryan Harvey, and Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly summoning a pair of pinch-hitters, John Moses and Randy Bush, who both made outs. Gary Gaetti was also on the bench, but he was unavailable after getting hit on the hand by a Bert Blyleven pitch Monday night.