Abbott Pitches Complete Game, but Angels Come Up Short, 3-2

Jim Abbott had the right idea in his last start, pitching a shutout against the Toronto Blue Jays to assure himself no worse than a tie.

The 22-year-old left-hander was only marginally less effective Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, but the Angels’ inconsistent offense gave him no margin for error.

“I try not to get too caught up in results,” Abbott said after pitching his second consecutive complete game and third in four starts, only to wind up with a 3-2 loss at Anaheim Stadium. “Sure, I’d like to win. I’m real disappointed that we didn’t. But for the most part, I’ve got to look upon this start as being positive.

“Look at Mark Langston. It’s just not happening for him, and he’s pitching great. He’s not winning, but it doesn’t mean he’s

any less of a pitcher. That’s how I have to look at this. When you start punishing yourself for good games, that’s when you get in trouble.”

Maturity and mechanical adjustments have made Abbott a better pitcher than he was even a month or two ago, but his record hasn’t reflected that because the Angels’ offense hasn’t provided much support.

Abbott (6-8) pitched an outstanding game, except for a tenuous first inning complicated by a mixup in signs with catcher Ron Tingley that turned into a passed ball and set up Dave Parker’s two-run single.

Rob Deer muscled a 2-and-0 fastball into the seats in left-center field in the second inning--”The only bad pitch he threw,” according to Angel Manager Doug Rader--to provide the Brewers’ final run, and although Abbott allowed only four more hits, that run was decisive.

After scoring eight runs Tuesday night for Kirk McCaskill, the Angels mustered only two for Abbott off Mark Knudson (7-4), the first on Johnny Ray’s home run in the fifth and two singles and a sacrifice fly by Dave Winfield in the sixth. In Abbott’s 19 starts, the Angels have been outscored, 99-72.

Abbott, who has yet to win consecutive games this season, struck out three and didn’t allow a walk for the second consecutive start. Over his last four starts, he has allowed six earned runs in 34 1/3 innings for an earned-run average of 1.57. His overall ERA is 4.19, his lowest since the second game of the season. And his record remains below .500. So does the Angels’, at 45-47.

“We’ve squandered some good pitching,” Winfield said. “We’re unpredictable, that’s for sure.”

That’s all they can be sure of.

“He pitched a great game,” said Max Venable, whose hit-and-run single in the sixth inning moved Luis Polonia to third base and into position to score on Winfield’s fly ball. “It seems (Langston) and Abbott, we don’t score a lot of runs for them.

“It’s just not fair. There’s not much justice. We’ve got to have a few more guys hitting and pull things together. We’re not balanced offensively very well. The chemistry is not there yet.”

The delicate chemistry between pitcher and catcher went awry in the first inning when Tingley, who was recalled from triple-A Edmonton on Tuesday, gave Abbott the wrong sign on an 0-and-1 pitch to Parker, after singles by Robin Yount and Gary Sheffield.

“The sequence I’d gone through, I thought I’d given the sign for a fastball inside and I didn’t--I gave the sign for a breaking ball,” said Tingley, who last caught Abbott during a brief exhibition outing in Palm Springs. “I set up for a fastball and it got away from me. That killed us. It put runners on second and third. I was getting a little anxious behind the plate wanting to get out of a jam.

“The minute I got out there (to the mound) I said, ‘Hey, it’s my fault. Now let’s shut them down.’ ”

Except for Parker’s single and Deer’s home run, Abbott did. “He was in such a good groove, I could have thrown down any (sign),” Tingley said.

By then, though, the damage was done, and the Angels were incapable of doing much offensive damage of their own.

“I would have liked to see what would have happened in the first inning if the passed ball had not occurred,” Rader said. “It changed the way the whole inning was set up. . . . The inning would have been a lot different had that not taken place.”

Abbott deflected the blame from Tingley and downplayed the impact of that play.

“I wish I had the first inning back,” he said. “Some things that happened might have been avoided. (Working with Tingley) went real well except the first inning, and that was my fault. There were some other things, too. That wasn’t the key. There were different pitches that could have been made. I should have known that. I think Ron did a great job back there as soon as he got used to my pitching pattern, and that’s to his credit because it’s not always easy to pick up.”

Abbott has found that victories aren’t easy to pick up, either, but he is encouraged by his improvement. If that hasn’t yet translated into improvement in his record, he intends to be patient.

“I don’t like to speak too prematurely,” he said. “But I give a lot of credit to (pitching coach) Marcel Lachemann. Mechanically, a lot of things have come together and that’s led to more consistency throwing the ball over the plate with all four pitches. Because of that, that’s turned into quality starts.

“I’ve just got to keep at it. This is not the end of the world. Maybe I’ll win a few 9-8 games or 7-6 games and everybody will forget about it.”

Angel Notes

Today will be a day off for the Angels, their first at home since April 16. Another day off scheduled during a home stand in May was wiped out by a makeup game in Seattle. Other days off have actually been travel days. . . . Manager Doug Rader held a workout on an off day during a trip in April but left today open. “They need to rest their minds,” said Rader, who plans a morning round of golf, an afternoon at the beach and time with his family.

Jim Abbott’s plans include playing golf. “Maybe you’d better not say that,” he said, referring to General Manager Mike Port’s recent ban on bringing golf clubs on the road. . . . Abbott’s complete game was the Angels’ third in four games. Only one was a victory--Chuck Finley’s 3-2 decision over Toronto Sunday. Mark Langston had a complete-game 3-1 loss to Milwaukee Monday. The Angels’ staff has 10 complete games this season, three each by Langston and Abbott.

The Angels took the season series from Milwaukee, 7-5, for the second consecutive season. . . . Johnny Ray’s home run in the fifth inning was the Angels’ 18th against the Brewers this season, the most they have hit against a single club since they got 18 against the New York Yankees in 1988. . . . Chili Davis, who has a strained lower back, is receiving therapy, but Wally Joyner, who had a possible stress fracture in his right kneecap, is limited to upper-body work.