Angels Fade the More They Fall - Division Hopes on Ropes as Indians Rally in Ninth

This 11-game trip will find its place in Angel history near Dave Henderson’s infamous home run in the 1986 playoffs.

The Angels left Anaheim Sept. 14, four games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics with series against three of the fiveworst teams in the American League.

Further, Oakland provided the Angels with four opportunities to close the gap during the past 1 1/2 weeks.

But the Angels blew three of them--and virtually any chance of winning the West division.

It may not be equal the collapse of ’86 when Henderson’s two-out, ninth-inning homer sent the Boston Red Sox to the World Series, but . . .

Sunday, the Angels somehow managed to throw yet another one away, surrendering a 4-3 lead in the ninth when the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 5-4 victory in front of 14,841 at Cleveland Stadium.

The A’s beat the Minnesota Twins to cut their magic number to two. Now, nothing short of a complete breakdown can keep Oakland from another trip to the American League Championship Series.

The Angels trail the A’s by 5 1/2 games, and Oakland can clinch a tie for the division title tonight with a victory over the Texas Rangers.

Only twice before this series had Cleveland rallied to win after trailing in the seventh inning. But three times in the four-game series, the Indians came back from seventh-inning deficits. It also was the first time Cleveland swept a four-game series against the Angels since June, 1965.

Oakland Manager Tony La Russa said Saturday that he expected the Angels to win the rest of their games.

Obviously, he hasn’t seen them play recently.

The pitching has been respectable--Angel pitchers had a 2.90 earned-run average on the trip. But the Angel offense has failed--especially when it counted.

On the three days they failed to take advantage of Oakland losses, the Angels split a doubleheader, lost a game and lost a doubleheader. In those five games, they scored only nine runs.

Sunday, the Indians scored three in the first and then had only one hit in the next seven innings.

But Jerry Browne lined a one-out single to center against reliever Willie Fraser, pinch-hitter Dave Clark walked and, one out later, Joey Belle doubled down the left-field line to tie the game, 4-4.

Then Brook Jacoby singled to left, an appropriate ending to this lost weekend in Cleveland.

“We could have gone to Harv (reliever Bryan Harvey), but Willie was throwing pretty well,” Manager Doug Rader said. “There’s a hundred different ways to second-guess yourself when you get beat late in ballgame as we’ve done here night after night.

“I don’t rank losses, though. No one game is any different than another. You just have to deal with the here and now.”

So how does he feel about the Angels’ present state?

“To be realistic, we’re not in the greatest shape,” he said. “I think everyone is well aware of that. It’s redundant to dwell on it and there’s really no need for further comment.”

The Angels appeared to be in bad shape from the outset. Left-hander Chuck Finley, making his second start since straining a ligament in his left foot while warming up in the bullpen Aug. 21, looked shaky.

He lasted six innings and issued nine walks, one short of the team record for a nine-inning game.

But Finley held the Indians to three hits and three runs.

He walked seven in the first three innings, including three in the first when the Indians scored three times.

Felix Fermin slapped a one-out single to right and Finley walked the next three batters to hand Cleveland a 1-0 lead. Then Cory Snyder grounded a single through the drawn-in infield for a 3-0 lead.

Finley gave up two walks in each of the next two innings, but the Indians couldn’t capitalize on the good fortune.

The Angels made the most of Indian mistakes to tie the score in the third inning. Kent Anderson led off with a single and one out later, Johnny Ray hit a grounder that appeared playable but slipped past second baseman Tommy Hinzo for a single. Then Hinzo committed a fielding error and a throwing error--with a walk sandwiched in between--and the score was 3-3.

Jack Howell’s 20th homer of the year gave the Angels a 4-3 lead in the fourth.

But the lead wasn’t going to stand up, not on this trip. The lowly Indians mounted a rally and the Angels went down again, a fitting conclusion that has all but ended the Angels’ dreams of a dream season.

Angel Notes

Devon White, who has at least one hit in 10 of his last 12 games, missed Saturday’s and Sunday’s games with the flu. It’s the third time this season White has had a throat infection, but he has missed only the three games because of it. White also has a slight groin pull. Asked how he was feeling, White said, “My head hurts, my throat hurts and my groin hurts.” White still has his tonsils and a number of teammates have suggested he have them removed. But White isn’t taking the advice. “Everyone tells me to have them taken out, but until a doctor tells me to, they ain’t going nowhere,” he said.

Former Angel Manager John McNamara, who is considered a leading candidate for the Indians’ managerial job, was interviewed this weekend by Cleveland President Hank Peters. McNamara was in town scouting the Indians for the Seattle Mariners. . . . Cleveland’s interim manager, John Hart, says he feels “good about everything” that has happened since he replaced Doc Edwards Sept. 12. “As I said at the onset, I’m a special assignment guy, and I interpret this as being a special assignment,” Hart said. “I’m not even thinking of next season.”

The Angels juggled their pitching rotation for the upcoming three-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Anaheim Stadium. Kirk McCaskill will face Bret Saberhagen Tuesday night. Jim Abbott will oppose Tom Gordon Wednesday night and Bert Blyleven will face Larry McWilliams Thursday night. “We just wanted to match some people up a little better,” Manager Doug Rader said. The move was probably made in order to let Kirk McCaskill face the Texas Rangers on closing day. He has an earned-run average of 2.04 against the Rangers.

NO RUNS, NO LUCK; Orel Hershiser pitches well, but Dodgers lose, 1-0. Bill Plaschke’s story, Page 2.