Finley Is Sharp in 7-0 Win : Angels: He allows two hits in 6 1/3 innings. Downing, Davis and Bichette hit home runs.

He pitched as clean a game as anyone could want, but Chuck Finley wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty in order to get the Angels their first victory of the season.

Locked in a foot race with Seattle’s Harold Reynolds in the sixth inning after Reynolds had hit a grounder to first baseman Wally Joyner, Finley took a toss from Joyner and, with no regard for the safety of his valuable left arm, flung himself at Reynolds to make the tag. Finley and Reynolds tumbled into the dirt behind first base, a tangle of arms and legs that could have produced a serious injury.

Instead, it produced an out.

“It was one of those deals where you don’t have that many outs, and if you want to stay out there, you have to make those plays,” he said. “A couple of innings before, I was kind of slow getting to a couple of balls. It was my time to get my butt off the mound.”

What he did on the mound, though, was even more impressive. Finley allowed only two hits in 6 1/3 innings, both to Henry Cotto, and benefited from home runs by Brian Downing, Chili Davis and Dante Bichette as the Angels blanked the Mariners, 7-0, Tuesday night before 23,508 at Anaheim Stadium.

Downing’s homer in the seventh produced three runs, and Mark Eichhorn preserved the shutout with 2 2/3 innings of two-hit relief, earning his first save as an Angel and his first since June 2, 1988, when he was with Toronto.

Maybe now the Angels will correct the spelling on the nameplate that’s affixed to the top of his locker. “There’s supposed to be two ‘h’s,’ ” he said, smiling.

But some things turn out better than they’re supposed to. Like Finley, who went five innings in an exhibition game against the Dodgers last Friday and wasn’t supposed to last more than five against the Mariners.

“You expect five, hope for six and beyond that, you don’t have any right to expect anything,” Manager Doug Rader said. “What really makes it difficult is when a guy is doing that many dominating things and you know there’s no way he’s going to finish the game, yet you want to leave him in as long as you can.

“You know there’s not much chance he’s physically fit to finish the game, but when he’s going like that, you’ve got to milk it as long as you can.”

Finley milked it skillfully, striking out two and walking only one on 78 pitches. It was the walk he issued to Alvin Davis in the seventh that ended his evening, not the fall he had taken the inning before.

“I wasn’t worried. He’s one of those tough Louisiana guys,” Rader said. “If you can eat the food, you can take a tumble like that.”

Finley had felt his fastball drop off as the game progressed, and he was glad to last as long as he did.

“The whole night, I was really pleased with the way I was around the plate,” he said. “I didn’t expect to be that sharp. Lance (Parrish) did a great job of mixing pitches. I was spotting my fastball. The next thing you know, it’s the fourth inning and you’re a little deeper into the thing than you thought you’d be.”

Home runs by Davis and Bichette in the second put Seattle starter Randy Johnson, who played basketball and baseball at USC, into a 2-0 hole.

Finley protected that lead well, aided by a fine throw from Bichette in right to shortstop Mark McLemore, who in turn relayed to third baseman Rick Schu to cut down Cotto after he tried to stretch a double into a triple in the fifth.

Schu came up with a sparkling defensive play in the eighth to help Eichhorn preserve the shutout, after Edgar Martinez had doubled and moved to third on Cotto’s grounder.

Schu snared Dave Valle’s shot to third, held Martinez, and got Valle at first. Then pinch-hitter Scott Bradley ended the inning with a grounder to second.

Downing, the designated hitter Tuesday night after missing Monday’s opener--the first opener he’d missed in 11 years--padded the lead to 5-0 in the seventh with his three-run homer to left off reliever Jerry Reed.

Johnny Ray, with a run-scoring single, and Wally Joyner, with a sacrifice fly, accounted for the Angels’ final two runs.

Afterward, Eichhorn was grinning broadly.

“It’s good to be back in the American League,” he said.

Eichhorn split last season between Atlanta and its Richmond farm club and was signed by the Angels as a free agent.

“The first thing Lach told me when I got here was that my bread and butter was my forkball,” he said. “I guess the last couple of years I lost confidence and went with my sinker and slider. In the eighth inning I went with the sinker (on Martinez’s double) even though it was a five-run ballgame. Guess I’m just hard-headed.”

Angel Notes

Angel pitcher Mark Langston, who will start against his former Mariner teammates tonight, said he will block out memories of his old friendships once the game starts. But he confessed that he misses his old roommate, Alvin Davis, with whom he used to share post-game snacks. “It’s tough to eat a whole pizza,” Langston said.

Mariner outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. is a dutiful son. Remembering that Tuesday was the 40th birthday of his father, Cincinnati outfielder Ken Griffey, Sr., he asked the Mariners’ public relations director, Dave Aust, to call Houston--where the Reds were playing--and put a congratulatory message on the scoreboard.

Chili Davis, who was limited to designated hitting Monday because of persistent tightness in his groin, was in left field Tuesday, with Devon White in center and Dante Bichette in right. Claudell Washington, a left-handed hitter, was removed from the lineup against the left-hander Randy Johnson. Washington also has a plantar’s wart on his left foot, but padding in his shoe alleviates his discomfort.

“A lot has to do with Johnson, and a lot has to do with Chili being able to play the outfield,” Manager Doug Rader said of the lineup changes. Bichette, he said, “may end up platooning with Claudell. It depends on who produces and is swinging the bat. I don’t believe in strict platoons. It might be a reverse platoon where Claudell hits left-handers better than right-handers. That happens a lot.”