A Shut-Eye Shutout for Finley, 1-0

Winning has become so routine for Chuck Finley, he can pitch a complete-game shutout in his sleep.

Succumbing to the effects of exhaustion, jet lag and oppressive humidity, Finley began nodding off in the dugout in the ninth inning Friday.

“I was spread out like (at) a picnic,” the Angel left-hander said, recreating his pose of sprawled limbs and closed eyes.

“Somebody yelled, ‘All right!’ and I looked up and Devo was standing up on third. I had no idea how he got there.”

Devon White might have been the only Angel who could have reached second on a bad-hop grounder that handcuffed Red Sox shortstop Luis Rivera, and he certainly was the only Angel fleet enough to get to third by stealing. Johnny Ray got White home with a single through the right side of a drawn-in infield, providing the only run in a 1-0 victory that made Finley the first opposing left-hander to earn a complete-game victory at Fenway Park this season.

After Finley (16-5) got the lead, protecting it was simple. For a final flourish in the Angels’ sixth victory in seven games, he struck out cleanup hitter Ellis Burks for his fifth strikeout of the game and 121st of the season, enough to rank Finley among the American League leaders.

“It was a matter of staying awake and throwing strikes,” Finley said after his four-hit performance reduced his earned-run average to 2.24, second only to the 2.06 posted by Boston’s Roger Clemens. “I probably should stay up later from now on if I throw the ball that well when I’m so tired.”

White was well-rested enough to sprint for second when his grounder to short bounced away from Rivera, the shortstop’s second error of the night. “It was a bad hop. There was nothing I could do but keep it in front of me and I couldn’t do that,” Rivera said.

Nor could the Red Sox keep White from stealing, despite his total of 13 before Friday and his lack of familiarity with pitcher Mike Boddicker (11-8).

“Sometimes I get on base and it’s like spring training. I’ve got to figure the guy out again,” said White, who last season led the Angels with 44 steals. “Every time I’ve been on base I’ve been hesitant, worrying about jumps instead of using my speed.”

He didn’t hesitate to test catcher Tony Pena’s arm on a hard, outside changeup by Boddicker, an ideal pitch for a catcher to handle in that situation.

“Usually when I steal third I’m 99 percent sure I’m going to be there,” said White, who had gone 12 games without a stolen base since he stole second July 30 in Minnesota. “If I don’t get a good jump, I’ll stop . . . I had gotten a good jump and from what I’ve heard, Pena has a good arm.”

Not good enough to get White. “It’s not really what I did,” White said. “Every now and then I’m going to have a good game. Somebody had to win it.”

Red Sox Manager Joe Morgan, whose club’s AL East lead was cut to one game when the Toronto Blue Jays won, didn’t blame Rivera for Boston’s loss. Boddicker, who had nine strikeouts in losing his fifth consecutive decision, apparently wanted to call a pickoff play but Rivera wasn’t ready for a throw to second.

“I don’t blame him for the error, but I blame him for not holding the runner,” Morgan said. “He had to make a great play (on White’s grounder). I would have scored it a hit and an error.”

It’s no mistake that Finley has matched his career high in victories. He was barely tested except for a second-and-third, no-out situation in the seventh, which he escaped on a grounder by Mike Greenwell, a fielder’s choice grounder by Dwight Evans and a fly to center by Tom Brunansky.

Angel Notes

Coaches Moose Stubing and Bobby Knoop switched positions, with Stubing moving to the first-base box and Knoop to third. Manager Doug Rader said the change “should not be looked at as a demotion. A lot of people think coaching third is more glamorous, but both positions are very important.”

One of Stubing’s worst moments came during Game 2 of the 1986 AL playoffs. Bobby Grich was rounding third after a hit when Stubing--in an attempt to decoy the outfielder into not throwing home--motioned him to stop. However, he yelled to Grich that the sign was a decoy and that Grich should try to score. Grich didn’t hear Stubing over the crowd noise and held up, which got him trapped in a rundown.

“It’s a different angle over there,” said Stubing, who never coached first before Friday. Knoop declined to comment about the change.

Infielder Mark McLemore cleared waivers and his contract was assigned outright to Cleveland’s triple-A affiliate at Colorado Springs to complete the Ron Tingley trade. Tingley was acquired Sept. 6, 1989. McLemore has the right to refuse the assignment, but an Angel spokesman said that is now the Indians’ concern.

Kent Anderson was put on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 16 because of a strained right hamstring, and Pete Coachman was recalled from triple-A Edmonton. Jack Howell might have been summoned except for a strained groin he suffered Wednesday playing for Edmonton. Coachman hit .291 with five home runs and 51 runs batted in in 11 games with the Trappers, for whom he played second, third and the outfield. His flight didn’t arrive in time for him to be in uniform Friday.

Greg Minton threw two simulated innings and as evidence of his effectiveness, he hung in the clubhouse part of one of three bats Dante Bichette broke hitting against him. Minton repeated that he is content to wait until Sept. 1 to be activated.

Bichette hasn’t started a game since Aug. 7 but would say only, “I’m hanging in. That’s about it.”