McCaskill Gets Relief for Ailing Elbow, 5-3

He can bear the discomfort caused by the bone spur in his elbow. What pains Kirk McCaskill is the disappointment of being physically unable to meet his own expectations.

Some of the sting he felt Tuesday after lasting only five innings was soothed when Mike Fetters and Mark Eichhorn combined to provide four innings of one-hit relief and preserve the Angels’ 5-3 decision over the slumping Chicago White Sox.

“The hard part is I have an idea of what kind of pitcher I want to be,” said McCaskill, who has missed two starts this season because of elbow problems and could eventually need surgery. “I’m not satisfied with being a five-inning pitcher.”

Fetters, making his first appearance in six days, relieved McCaskill with a runner on first in the sixth and started the strikeout-caught stealing double play that helped ease him out of the inning.

Eichhorn came on after Fetters walked Robin Ventura in the eighth and retired all five men he faced to earn his 13th save of the season and deal the White Sox their fifth straight loss.

“Mike did a great job,” said McCaskill (5-3), who last started on June 9. “Mike and Willie (Fraser) are going to have to do that when I start. The good thing about it is that we do have some guys who can throw innings.

“Bert (Blyleven), Chuck (Finley) and Mark (Langston) can all go the distance and Jim (Abbott) is a young, strong guy. When I get around, I’ll be the weak link. The good thing was that Mike was there tonight and I’m sure Willie will be, too.”

Manager Doug Rader also had strong praise for Fetters. “What Ike did was the most glamorous,” Rader said, “but had Mike not done what he did, Ike wouldn’t have been in that position.”

Eichhorn’s excellence has become almost standard, but Fetters has struggled in the position of middle reliever.

Used exclusively as a starter by triple-A Edmonton, Fetters has started only once for the Angels since being promoted on May 18. As the starters have grown stronger and pitched into the late innings, Fetters’ appearances have become increasingly rare. When he has pitched, the results have sometimes been disastrous.

“I was questioning myself after the last couple times out,” said Fetters, who allowed four earned runs over his last 2 1/3 innings and entered Tuesday’s game with an earned-run average of 6.91. “This was a big boost for my confidence. Once again, I feel like I belong.

“There aren’t enough innings for everybody to get in there, so I’ve got to stay sharp and make sure I’m ready when I do get in.”

A pitch McCaskill candidly admitted was “real bad” got him in trouble in the fourth. The Angels had taken a 1-0 lead off Melido Perez (6-6) in the third on Luis Polonia’s drag bunt, Dick Schofield’s single to center and center fielder Lance Johnson’s misplay of the ball, but that edge was erased in the fourth with one swing of Dan Pasqua’s bat.

McCaskill, successfully blocking out the ache in his elbow, didn’t allow a hit in the first three innings but gave up a single to Robin Ventura and a double to Ivan Calderon before Pasqua launched a 1-and-2 pitch well into the upper deck in right field.

The home run was only the second off McCaskill this season and the first actually hit out of the park: the other was Bill Buckner’s inside the park home run April 25, which resulted when right fielder Claudell Washington fell over the low fence in Boston’s Fenway Park and lay stunned while Buckner chugged around the bases.

There was no doubt that Pasqua’s blast was headed out, but McCaskill didn’t let that spark any self-doubt.

“I made a bad pitch and paid the price,” McCaskill said, “but I didn’t let it bother me. I recognized it as a bad pitch and went on from there.”

His tenacity was rewarded when the Angels scored four runs in the sixth. They loaded the bases on a single and two walks off Perez, who was relieved by Ken Patterson. Jack Howell struck out, but the White Sox brought in right-hander Donn Pall to face switch-hitter Donnie Hill, who was hitting .230 left-handed and left six runners in scoring position Monday.

Hill, once a member of the White Sox, wasn’t looking to become a hero against his old teammates. “I was looking to try and do something good for a change,” said Hill, who was in a 13-for-76 skid before Tuesday that sent his batting average from .327 to .237. “Was I in a slump? Just a tad.”

That frustration decreased when his liner bounced into the stands by the 347-foot sign in the right-field corner for a ground-rule double that scored two runs. Devon White finished the rally with a double to center that scored the Angels’ last two runs, White’s first multiple-RBI game since May 19.

Angel Notes

Luis Polonia unintentionally put on a show in the fourth inning when he momentarily lost Lance Johnson’s high fly ball to left in the lights, sliding and reaching back to make the catch. “I just wanted to be on ‘This Week in Baseball,”’ he said. “Just kidding.”

Manager Doug Rader had another explanation. “He was checking on the progress of the new stadium (across the street),” Rader said.

Jim Abbott is the Angels’ nominee for the 1990 Roberto Clemente Award, given the player who best represents the game of baseball on and off the field through humanitarian endeavors. The winner will be announced July 9 in festivities before the All-Star Game.

The Angels should know within a week whether a hearing will be held on their complaint over the Yankees’ conduct following the Dave Winfield-Mike Witt trade. Both sides have submitted statements to Commissioner Fay Vincent. Should the commissioner agree with the Angels’ contention that the Yankees tampered with Winfield, a fine is the likely sanction.