Royals Hit Abbott Often, Not Hard, in 11-4 Victory

He’s not being pounded or embarrassed on the mound, but that’s no consolation for Jim Abbott. “I don’t know if that makes it any easier or harder,” the Angel left-hander said glumly.

Every time he looks up, it seems, there’s a runner on base, a runner he put there through a walk or a bloop hit or some other stroke of misfortune. The Royals built a four-run sixth inning Wednesday around three infield hits, but the result, an 11-4 Kansas City victory, was the same as if they had strafed him.

Breaking out of an offensive slumber by collecting 19 hits off four Angel pitchers, Kansas City scored six runs against Abbott, ending their eight-game losing streak and dropping the Angels 9 1/2 games behind the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics.

“It’s been a draining time, a little bit,” said Abbott, whose record fell to 3-5 and includes a home record of 0-3.

“It seems like it’s been a little bit of a battle every time I go out there,” added Abbott, who hasn’t won at Anaheim Stadium since last July 27. “I see where Chuck (Finley) said the other day that it’s a little bit of a battle every time he goes out there. I’d like to be battling like that.”

Finley is 9-3, figures Abbott can only dream about. Over 75 1/3 innings, Abbott has yielded 90 hits, 34 walks and 45 earned runs, numbers that alarm him.

“Maybe I did something real bad in the off-season,” he said, managing the ghost of a smile. “Sometimes, I’m pressing a little bit too much, trying to make too good a pitch instead of throwing the ball over the plate. I wasn’t throwing too bad.

“Always, my first goal has been to be a positive contributor to this team. At times, I’ve gone out and felt like I’ve improved. There’s a world of difference between the pitcher I was last year (and now), but for one reason or another, the results haven’t been there.”

The Anaheim Stadium crowd of 28,179--which pushed the Angels over the one-million mark in home attendance for the 16th consecutive season--saw his outing result in a loss because of Kansas City’s two-run fourth. It was constructed around an infield hit in addition to two walks, including a bases-leaded walk by George Brett. Abbott came undone in the sixth after consecutive infield hits by Danny Tartabull and Bo Jackson, followed by Brett’s sharp single to right. Tartabull scored when Willie Wilson forced Brett at second and Mike Macfarlane drove in two more with a single to right.

“It’s just a matter of locating his pitches,” pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said. “In that one inning (the sixth), there’s the two infield hits and Brett’s base hit and a ground ball. You can’t really do a lot more than that. He’s got to do a little better job holding runners and other little things. His stuff is fine. If he locates a few more pitches, he’s going to be fine.”

The victory was both rare and unlikely for the Royals, who had decided not to take batting practice before the game despite having scored only eight runs in their previous seven games. Only an inning into the game, they lost starter Mark Gubicza to a pulled rib cage muscle, forcing Luis Aquino to make an unexpected appearance. Aquino (2-0) pitched five innings to get the victory, allowing only Chili Davis’ two-run home run in the sixth.

“He did a super job coming in on no notice,” Royal Manager John Wathan said. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this. Maybe batting practice is overrated. The day we don’t take it, we come out and hit the ball.”

They added a run in the seventh off Mike Fetters and four runs in the ninth off Scott Bailes, while the Angels simply couldn’t make up their huge deficit. “We beat them five straight. It was time for them to win one,” said Davis.

It didn’t matter to Davis that the Royals had reached on so many scratch hits. “That’s the game,” he said. “I’ll take any bloop single I can get. Sometimes you hit it hard and it’s right at somebody. They had 19 hits and however many runs. Regardless of how they got ‘em, they got ‘em.”

Abbott is hoping he’ll get some cheering up on the Angels’ trip to Detroit and Chicago. His parents live in Flint, Mich., and he will get to see them soon. “I’ll tell my mother to bring her glove,” he said.

Angel Notes

Willie Wilson had his 600th career steal in the seventh inning for Kansas City. . . . Manager Doug Rader, who missed Wednesday’s game in order to attend his son’s high school graduation, left behind three possible lineups for the coaches to use depending on players’ medical conditions. Wally Joyner experienced a flareup of the tendinitis in his right knee, forcing coaches Moose Stubing, Marcel Lachemann (who was celebrating his 49th birthday) and Bobby Knoop to go to Plan B and use Lance Parrish at first.

Stubing was in charge of the offense, Lachemann of the pitchers and Knoop of Knoop. “I’m in charge of myself,” said the first-base coach, who was supposed to oversee defensive positioning and replacements. “That’s enough responsibility.”

Parrish is still using a first baseman’s glove he borrowed from Rick Schu. He ordered one of his own but hasn’t received it yet. . . . Joyner has a .421 career average against Royal starter Mark Gubicza (eight for 19).

Johnny Ray (sore right shoulder) is progressing slowly and will accompany the Angels on their upcoming road trip to Detroit and Chicago. Greg Minton (sore right shoulder) threw at half-speed in the bullpen and will also make the trip. . . . Mark McLemore had a cast placed on his right wrist, which he sprained for the second time June 1 diving into the bag while playing for Triple-A Edmonton. . . . The umpiring crew was left a man short when Larry Barnett developed a sore foot and couldn’t work.