Winfield Wins It in 12th : Angels: His bases-loaded hit beats Athletics. Grahe has promising debut.

The Angels finally found a way to build a lead the Oakland Athletics couldn’t erase: score the winning run in extra innings at home.

Dave Winfield’s 2,499th career hit, a fly-ball single to the warning track in left field, scored Dick Schofield with the decisive run with one out in the 12th inning Saturday night as the Angels beat the A’s, 6-5, at Anaheim Stadium.

Winfield’s hit won the game while a fan cavorted in right field. Time was not called, and the game continued. The A’s, whose lead over the second-place Chicago White Sox was cut to 2 1/2 games, did not protest.

“I didn’t see anybody behind me,” said right fielder Jose Canseco. “Was she good-looking?”

The Angels, who had squandered a 5-1 lead, put together the winning rally when Todd Burns (2-3) walked leadoff hitter Schofield on four pitches in the 12th. Dante Bichette moved Schofield to second with a sacrifice. Joe Klink replaced Burns and walked Max Venable and Devon White to load the bases. Winfield then collected his second hit of the game, giving the Angels only their second victory over the A’s in nine games this season.

“We demonstrated we can do it,” Winfield said. “We needed to. We had a couple of games that got out of our hands. They’re a tough team to hold down.”

“He can handle it from the emotional standpoint,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said of Winfield, “No. 2, he has the physical tools.”

The Angels were unable to protect a 6-0 lead last week at the Oakland Coliseum and another 6-0 lead Friday at Anaheim Stadium. Their inability to hold the 5-1 lead they built Saturday inspired boos from many in the season-high crowd of 52,774, but those who remained for the end cheered wildly when Schofield scored the winning run.

Mark Eichhorn (2-4), the fourth Angel pitcher, was credited with the victory. He pitched the 11th and 12th, giving up one hit. The veteran reliever had allowed at least one earned run in each of his last four appearances and six of seven.

Joe Grahe (pronounced gray) started in place of Bert Blyleven, who was at home with his family after his wife and three of his four children were involved in a car accident Thursday. Grahe, whose contract was purchased from triple-A Edmonton early Saturday, gave up four runs--three of them earned--over 5 1/3 innings and struck out Canseco twice.

The Angels, who had lost seven of their previous eight games against the A’s, avoided dropping 17 games out of first place and falling six games under .500 for the first time since they were 17-23 on May 22.

Grahe’s first major league pitch was a strike, but the next four were balls, putting Rickey Henderson on first. Henderson stole his 919th base--19 behind all-time leader Lou Brock--on the first pitch to Carney Lansford and went to third when the throw by catcher Lance Parrish hit him and rolled into left field. He scored when Lansford grounded to second.

The Angels had runners on base in each of the first three innings but couldn’t score. They finally got to Mike Moore in the fourth, taking a 5-1 lead.

White led off with a triple over Canseco’s head in right. Winfield walked. Lee Stevens singled up the middle, scoring White and sending Winfield to third. Winfield scored on Johnny Ray’s single to center. Anderson walked, loading the bases, and, after Dick Schofield struck out, Luis Polonia lined an 0-and-2 pitch into the right-field corner, clearing the bases.

Grahe was in control until the sixth, when the A’s scored three times to cut the Angels’ lead to 5-4. Doubles by Dave Henderson and Felix Jose sandwiched around a walk to Mark McGwire--his third walk of the game--produced one run, and Walt Weiss’ single to right scored McGwire and Jose.

Young couldn’t hold off the A’s in the eighth, when they tied the game and deprived Grahe of a chance to earn a victory. McGwire led off with a walk and Lance Blankenship ran for him. Jose bunted him to second and he scored on Weiss’ single to left.

Angel Notes

To make room for Joe Grahe, catcher Ron Tingley was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of tendinitis in his right hand. . . . Grahe was 1-0 in three starts for Edmonton with a 1.46 earned-run average in 24 2/3/ innings. He began the season with double-A Midland, where he was 7-5 with a 5.14 ERA.

Bob McClure believes his elbow is fully healed after pitching two perfect innings for Class-A Palm Springs Friday.