Angels Lose Starter but Win Game, 11-9

Adversity is bringing out the best in the Angels. Faced with misfortune twice in the past two days, they have not only gotten by, they have gotten victories.

The Angels were short a starting pitcher Saturday when Kirk McCaskill took an early morning flight home to California after his newborn son developed minor medical problems. That made it two starters in a row knocked out before they got to the ballpark, a streak that started Friday when Chuck Finley fell and sprained his right ankle.

The Angels found a winning solution Friday in Jim Abbott, and Plan B on Saturday was Mike Fetters, who was summoned from triple-A Edmonton late Friday as insurance and figured “I might get a chance to throw.”

He not only got the chance, he got his first major league start.

The 25-year-old right-hander wasn’t the winner as the Angels outslugged the Blue Jays, 11-9, but his contribution was almost as important as the home runs hit by Devon White, Dave Winfield, Dante Bichette and Wally Joyner--the three, four, five and six hitters--and the relief work of Willie Fraser, Bryan Harvey and Mark Eichhorn.

“We’re all trying to pick each other up with all the mishaps and all,” said Fraser, who allowed one run over 1 1/3 innings to earn his first victory after two losses and the bullpen’s first win since an April 14 decision by Harvey. “It’s kind of brought us together. The whole team has done a hell of a job.

“Look at Jim Abbott. . . . He goes 6 2/3 (innings) and does a hell of a job. The relievers did the job and the offense has been tremendous. It’s really been enjoyable.”

Fetters, who arrived in Toronto early Saturday, was staked to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on a single by Winfield--his first RBI as an Angel--and Bichette’s three-run home run to center, his first homer since May 1. Toronto matched those four in the third inning, on a three-run home run by Junior Felix and a solo homer by Rance Mulliniks.

The Blue Jays moved ahead, 6-4, in the fifth inning on three singles, an error and a double by George Bell.

“It could have been better, but it was still fun,” said Fetters, who made one relief appearance for the Angels in 1989 and was 1-1 for Edmonton this season with an 0.99 earned-run average. “Pitching in the big leagues is a lot more fun than pitching in triple A. I just basically went out there trying to relax and throw what I had rather than worrying about them.”

The Blue Jays had more cause to worry. The Angels got to all four pitchers sent out by Manager Cito Gaston. John Cerutti allowed the first four runs, and Duane Ward (1-1) was charged with the next three, victimized in a four-run seventh that put the Angels ahead, 8-6.

Kent Anderson began the rally with a single, and he scored on Jack Howell’s double. Howell scored when first baseman Fred McGriff couldn’t get his glove on Chili Davis’ hard-hit grounder, and Davis took second. Donnie Hill moved him over, and he scored when White homered. The Blue Jays scored a run in the seventh inning on a double by Felix and a single by Tony Fernandez, but the Angels made it 10-7 in the eighth on Joyner’s homer to left, a double by John Orton and Davis’ run-scoring single. Still, Toronto came back, stringing together a walk, a single, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly to stay within two runs.

“Our offense isn’t going to click until our pitching improves, and our pitching is not going to improve until our offense clicks,” Manager Doug Rader said after his team raised its batting average to .246--17 points over 12 games--and hit double figures in runs for the first time since a 13-5 rout of Baltimore last July 13. “It all works hand in hand.”

Rader left the game in Mark Eichhorn’s right hand Saturday, and the former Blue Jay, making his fourth appearance in five days, earned his seventh save of the season. Not that it was easy: The Angels made it 11-8 in the ninth inning on Winfield’s line-drive home run to right, but Toronto came back with a run in the ninth on two walks and a single by John Olerud, and had runners on first and second when Eichhorn slipped a third strike past Pat Borders to end it.

“It’s not supposed to be that nerve-wracking, but it was,” Rader said.

His nerves would be seriously tested should calamity strike Mark Langston today. “If Langston can’t go to the post,” Rader said, “I’ll just meet you in Cleveland. Nine innings from him would be nice. Real nice.”

Angel Notes

To make room on the roster for pitcher Mike Fetters, infielder Rick Schu was optioned to Edmonton. Schu hit .194 in 17 games. Fetters isn’t sure how long he will stay, but he’s likely to remain until the condition of Kirk McCaskill’s son improves.

“I just take it one day at a time,” said Fetters, a former Pepperdine star who one of the Angels’ four first-round picks in the 1986 free-agent draft. “I hope they give me an opportunity to go out there again.”

Chuck Finley’s sprained right ankle is healing enough for him to be scheduled to start Tuesday in Cleveland. Bert Blyleven will start Monday on three days’ rest. “Tuesday will be fine unless I fall again,” Finley said. “What really happened is that Scott Bailes tripped me because he wanted to start.”

Reliever Bob McClure will have his left elbow examined by team physician Lewis Yocum Monday at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood. . . . A bone scan on Mark McLemore’s right wrist found no damage and his injury is being called a sprain. He’s expected to be out two weeks. . . . Greg Minton, recovering from right elbow surgery, threw for seven minutes and had no discomfort.

After winning two consecutive games for the first time since May 1-2, the Angels are 8-11 on the road. They are 7-11 at home. . . . Their four-run first was their highest single-inning production since a four-run first against Baltimore on May 7. . . . Dante Bichette’s assist in throwing Tony Fernandez out at third base in the fifth inning was his 10th, tops in the major leagues. . . . Saturday’s SkyDome sellout made the Blue Jays the first American League team to surpass 1 million in attendance. They have drawn 1,044,653 in 24 home games. Only the 1981 Dodgers drew a million fans more quickly, in 22 dates.