Angels’ Parrish Has 4-for-4 Night in Rout of Orioles

Only by becoming quiet at the plate did Lance Parrish make some noise.

Bedeviled by a slump that almost cost him his starting status, Parrish worked on his hitting approach with Angel Manager Doug Rader and batting instructor Deron Johnson. They advised the 33-year-old catcher to be calm without being passive, “a very, very quiet approach to the ball (that) generates more bat speed,” Rader said.

The change generated a single, a double, two thunderous home runs and four runs batted in for Parrish Tuesday night.

It also gave Angel left-hander Jim Abbott the leeway he needed to challenge hitters and gain his first victory of the season, a 7-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles that Abbott called “nothing to start talking championship about, but something that maybe will get us started.”

At the very least, it stopped a stretch of four losses in five games for the Angels, who are 4-7 on this trip with a game here tonight and another Thursday at Seattle remaining. At the most, it represented for Abbott (1-1) the end of the harmful effects of the spring-training lockout and for Parrish, the beginning of a resurgence.

“All I was trying to do is be patient,” Parrish said. “I’d been chasing balls out of the strike zone. When you have a tendency to jump at the ball, that’s the opposite of being quiet. I definitely fell into that category. Hitters in slumps are overaggressive, which is opposite of the way they should be. I got tired of fighting it the other way and tried this (Monday). Hopefully, I can maintain it.”

Parrish was two for 24 before Monday, when he was two for five in the series opener. He has hits in five consecutive at-bats, raising his average from a low of .163 Sunday to .250.

“I realize in this game that you’re either hot, cold or somewhere in between,” Parrish said. “When you’re struggling, the manager has an obligation to find somebody who can do the job. John (Orton) is an exceptional catcher and I had to start contributing, or I’d find my butt on the bench.”

Max Venable came off the bench to open the game with a home run off Oriole starter Jay Tibbs (0-3). Luis Polonia, acquired Sunday from the New York Yankees, was scheduled to lead off and play left field but has not yet joined the team from New York. Rader told Venable to be ready in case Polonia didn’t make it. Then, the Angel manager delayed handing in the lineup card as long as possible.

“I was on hold and then I wasn’t, I was in the game,” said Venable, who hit his last home run Sept. 26, 1986, while a member of the Cincinnati Reds. “I don’t care if he ever gets here.”

After getting jump-started by Venable’s home run, the Angels took a 2-0 lead on Parrish’s home run to right on a 2-2 count.

“It’s a lot easier to pitch when you have some runs and every little mistake isn’t so important,” Abbott said.

Not that he made many. Baltimore scored its only run in the second, after Mike Devereaux’s popup fell between right fielder Dante Bichette and second baseman Mark McLemore for a leadoff double. Devereaux promptly stole third and scored on Bob Melvin’s grounder to short. The Orioles put runners on second and third in the third inning on a single by Cal Ripken Jr. and a double by Randy Milligan, but Abbott got out of that jam by striking out Craig Worthington.

“The first inning was a little shaky,” Parrish said of Abbott, “but he worked himself into a position where we could open wide with any pitch. He threw a few curveballs, some changeups, and he threw strikes with his fastball.”

The Angels got him some breathing room in the fourth, on Parrish’s three-run, 405-foot blast into the left-field bleachers.

McLemore contributed a run-scoring single in the sixth, and Bichette drove in the final run with a home run to left in the eighth, his first home run in 12 games and only his second RBI in 12 games. It helped the Angels score more than five runs for the first time since they had seven in a 12-inning game April 14 against Minnesota.

“When you have runs to work with, you’re supposed to throw the ball over the plate, and that’s what I tried to do,” Abbott said. “I felt that my arm strength was there. I think the lockout effects are gone for me, and this outing was true to form.”

Parrish hopes the same is true for him. “Amazing, isn’t it?” he said after his first two-home run game since July 9, 1986 when he was with Detroit. “I hope I can maintain the same thought processes. You can put that down--amazing.”

Angel Notes

According to the Basic Agreement, Luis Polonia has 72 hours after the trade to report to his new club. That period expires tonight.

Catcher John Orton (sore left shoulder) has improved and was available last night, although he did not start. Johnny Ray (right shoulder bursitis) took early batting practice and also was available. Bob McClure (sore left elbow) threw softly for 15 minutes for the second consecutive day and reported no discomfort.

Lance Parrish’s eighth-inning double extended the Angels’ streak to 19 consecutive games with at least one double, two short of the club record set in 1971. . . . The Angels’ pitchers don’t have a complete game this season. . . . The Orioles had won the previous four games from the Angels. . . . Parrish’s two home runs came one night after Oriole center fielder Steve Finley reached above and behind the fence to rob him of a homer. “I told him when he came up the first time that I was going to try and hit ‘em where he couldn’t get ‘em,” Parrish said.

Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken played in his 1,271st consecutive game Tuesday, 36 behind Everett Scott’s second-place total of 1,307. The all-time record of 2,130 was set by Lou Gehrig.

Donnie Hill entertained his teammates before the game by going through his repertoire of impersonations. Throwing left-handed, Hill did a fine Tommy John impression, which goes with his Don Sutton and Frank Tanana. He also does a good imitation of side-armer Gene Garber, but Sutton and John hold a special place in his affections. “I like the old Dodgers,” said Hill, who lived in Huntington Beach and graduated from Edison High School. “I grew up with the 1970 Dodgers, John, Sutton and those guys.”