Angels Rally to Catch A’s but Lose in 12, 7-5

The Angels knew for whom the rally bells tolled Tuesday night.

But the souvenir bells the 34,370 fans at Anaheim Stadium received upon arrival didn’t ring true as the Oakland Athletics scored twice in the 12th inning for 7-5 victory over the Angels Tuesday night.

It was the second time in three games that the Angels went to 12 innings.

Walt Weiss opened the 12th with a single off Mark Eichhorn (0-1), who had pitched three scoreless innings. Stan Javier forced Weiss at second.

Javier went to third when Rickey Henderson’s hard grounder kicked off the glove of shortstop Kent Anderson into left field for a single. Javier scored when Carney Lansford’s grounder bounced off Johnny Ray’s chest. Henderson went to second and then scored on Jose Canseco’s single to center.

The Angels had rallied from a three-run deficit in the sixth inning on Dante Bichette’s third home run of the season to pull even with the A’s at 5-5. It was Bichette’s home run that gave the Angels a 7-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins in 12 innings Saturday.

Angel starter Mark Langston, who pitched seven hitless innings against Seattle last Wednesday in his previous start, did not approach that form Tuesday night. He gave up seven hits, including home runs to Lansford and Mark McGwire in the third inning, and left after six innings. The Angels rallied in the bottom of that inning to tie the score, ensuring that Langston would not be the loser.

Langston was charged with four earned runs and made a throwing error on a pickoff play to set up the fifth Oakland run. He struck out six and walked two while making 105 pitches, a hefty total for so short a stint. He made 98 over seven innings last Wednesday.

A victory by the Angels would have given them a 6-2 record and equaled their best starts. They had 6-2 records after eight games in 1970 and ’74.

A’s starter Mike Moore, once a teammate of Langston’s in Seattle, gave up three runs Tuesday. Reliever Todd Burns gave up the three-run home run to Bichette.

The question of what Langston would do for an encore was answered quickly. As he did during his seven no-hit innings, he walked the leadoff hitter, Rickey Henderson. But the pattern was broken when the second hitter, Lansford, rapped a single to right.

Langston got out of the inning with the help of an excellent pickoff throw to second that caught Henderson leaning, but he couldn’t escape the third inning unscathed.

The A’s did their damage with two outs. Lansford powered a 1-0 pitch a few rows into the left-field seats, and Canseco followed with a shot up the middle that blew past Langston’s upreached glove and into center field.

McGwire then reached down for Langston’s first pitch and slammed a home run deep to left field.

It was his third home run of the season.

The Angels could do little against Moore until the fourth inning. Wally Joyner walked and scored when Chili Davis blasted a 2-0 pitch 420 feet to center field that pulled the Angels to 3-2.

Langston seemed to settle into a groove in the middle innings. He struck out the last two batters of the fourth and first man in the fifth for a total of six strikeouts before Henderson bounced a ground-rule double down the left-field line. Canseco followed with a double off the wall in left, scoring Henderson for a 4-2 lead.

The A’s padded that to 5-2 in the sixth, without benefit of a hit. Dave Henderson drew a leadoff walk and went to third when Langston threw away an intended pickoff throw to first. Henderson held at third on Terry Steinbach’s grounder to third, but with the squeeze play on, Lance Blankenship laid down a perfect bunt up the first-base line that allowed Henderson to score.

The Angels then tied the score with one swing of Bichette’s bat. Ray beat out a grounder to third for an infield hit and Joyner barely missed a home run, sending center fielder Dave Henderson crashing into the wall to make the catch. That was all for Moore, who was relieved by right-hander Burns.

Burns threw four straight balls to Davis, who had switched to the left side of the plate. That brought up Bichette, a right-handed hitter, who slammed a 3-1 pitch over the center-field fence. The drive was measured at 422 feet.

Angel Notes

A’s Manager Tony La Russa said his club wasn’t taking this series against the Angels lightly. “You can’t waste a golden opportunity to take your best shot,” he said. “It’s kind of unusual because we play them two and then don’t see them for three months (July 23-26 at Oakland). We can’t waste these games.”

His team didn’t waste any games in the first week of the season, winning five of six. “The truth is, we had a solid first week,” he said. “The starting pitching, relief pitching, hitting. The only problem is that it was last week, not this week.”

La Russa also said his team is aware of the defensive exploits of Angel outfielder Dante Bichette, who had five assists last week, but isn’t about to change its strategy. “We know he throws well. We knew that last season,” he said. “Still, our style is to push. If there’s a guy on second base and there’s a single to left field, unless the ball is in the guy’s hand, we’re going to send him. You don’t take foolish chances, though.”

Rickey Henderson’s first-inning walk was the 1,000th of his career, fifth among active players. Dwight Evans, Willie Randolph, Keith Hernandez and Brian Downing are ahead of him.

Despite being on the disabled list, Bob McClure, Dick Schofield and Bill Schroeder will make the upcoming road trip.