3 Pairs Take the Victory : Angels: Downing’s homer in the ninth inning beats Toronto, 8-7, in a game in which he, Winfield and Bichette each hit two home runs.

Brian Downing’s hopes were modest when he faced Blue Jay relief pitcher Duane Ward with the score tied, 7-7, in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday at Anaheim Stadium.

“I was looking to get to first,” Downing said. “He just threw me a slider inside. He had thrown me two excellent ones on the first two pitches, and he had me. He just made a mistake on the third one.”

Downing turned that mistake into an 8-7 victory for the Angels when he slammed Ward’s 0-and-2 pitch into the left-field seats for his second home run of the game and a club record-tying sixth by the Angels.

Dave Winfield also hit two home runs, his first two-homer game with the Angels, and Dante Bichette contributed two as the Angels became the eighth club in major league history to have three players hit two homers in a game. Each hit a home run in the seventh inning, tying a club record.

“You watch a game like that and you’re flabbergasted,” said Angel Manager Doug Rader, who nearly ran out of players. “It’s really remarkable.”

What was as remarkable as their last-gasp triumph was that they needed every bit of that power, because they were unable to hold leads of 3-0 and 7-4. Mark Eichhorn, the sixth Angel pitcher, earned the victory--his first after four losses--by getting Kelly Gruber to fly out to Bichette in left with two runs in and the bases loaded in the ninth inning.

Rader praised the Angels defensive play as being “as good as it’s been all year. Our fortunes will ride upon how well we catch it.”

It’s hopeful that those fortunes won’t ride on how well their relief pitchers pitched it Saturday night.

Cliff Young, in his major league debut, was in position to win until the Blue Jays scored twice in the eighth inning. Young had been recalled from triple-A Edmonton on Thursday.

“It would have been terrible if we lost. We scratched and clawed and played good defense,” said Winfield, whose second home run of the game and 12th of the season tied him with Ralph Kiner for 33rd place on the all-time list with 369 homers. “This was real important, very important. It’s just one game in the standings, but it’s the way you play the game. And I think everybody was into this one.”

It was more like three or four games in one, with the Angels giving starting pitcher Bert Blyleven a 3-0 lead on a triple by Luis Polonia and ground out by Donnie Hill in the first inning, and homers by Bichette in the second and Winfield in the third.

Blyleven yielded a run in the fifth, an inning that might have been more costly had Winfield not caught Nelson Liriano’s sinking line drive, but the Blue Jays swamped Scott Bailes and Willie Fraser and took a 4-3 lead after the top of the seventh on RBI-doubles by McGriff and John Olerud after a walk to Gruber.

The Angels erased that in the bottom of the inning when Hill walked and scored ahead of Winfield, who smacked a 2-and-2 pitch 417 feet to left field. Downing hit a 3-and-2 pitch to right for only his sixth career home run to right, and Bichette finished off the hat trick by hitting a 2-and-2 pitch to right-center.

“I don’t have any power to right field. That’s not my game,” said Downing, who has seven home runs this season and 241 in his career. “I get base hits to right field, not homers. I can go to right, but just not for power. This was one of those nights the ball was sailing. Neither one (he hit) was a no-doubt thing. They got up a little bit in the air and the ball was carrying well.”

That his home run carried the day after the Angels had squandered leads was gratifying to Downing. “It’s better than what happened the last time, in Milwaukee,” he said, referring to a 7-0 lead the Angels had built only to lose, 20-7, last Sunday. “That time we lead and got behind, and got behind big time. The silver lining in this is we did pull it out. If we didn’t, we would be looking at Dave Stieb (today) and really have a fight.”

In losing, the Blue Jays dropped a half-game behind Boston in the AL East.

Angel Notes

Chili Davis was scratched from the starting lineup during batting practice because of a lower back strain that has been slow to heal. Manager Doug Rader said Davis could have played but “it probably wouldn’t be the right thing to do.” He said Davis should be available today.

Luis Polonia, who had been upset at being omitted from the original lineup against the left-hander John Cerutti, was inserted into the lineup as the leadoff hitter, replacing Davis in playing left field and pushing Brian Downing to fifth in the order. “At least I have a chance to show what I can do,” Polonia said.

First baseman Wally Joyner didn’t start for the third consecutive game, again bothered by tendinitis in his right knee. He is expected to be play today. With Joyner out, Rick Schu played first. He has played first, second, third and left field but is still one position behind Donnie Hill, who has played all four infield positions and pitched. “It’s going to be tough to catch up to him,” Schu said, “although when I strap on the (catcher’s) gear, he won’t be back there. But I don’t think I’ll be on the mound. He’s got better stuff than I do.”

Johnny Ray missed Saturday’s game to attend his father-in-law’s funeral in Oklahoma. He was expected to return in time for today’s game.