Oldest White Sox Beats Young Angel : Baseball: Fisk’s bases-loaded double off Abbott leads Chicago to 5-2 victory.

He fouled off one fastball, then another and then one more, fighting both a two-out, two-strike disadvantage and a pitcher who wasn’t fazed by his status. Carlton Fisk wasn’t going to give in to Jim Abbott, not with the bases loaded and the Chicago White Sox’s pennant hopes to be sustained.

“He was being very aggressive toward me,” Fisk, 42, said of Abbott, 20 years his junior. “He threw a couple of good fastballs, and then he got a slider down and I got a good swing on it. It wasn’t a bad slider, either. I just happened to put a good swing on a good pitch.”

It brought about the best possible results for the White Sox Friday. Fisk’s third-inning double to the warning track in left-center cleared the bases, vaulting Chicago into a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Blending that hit with six solid innings from starter Wayne Edwards and splendid relief from Donn Pall, Barry Jones and Bobby Thigpen, the White Sox beat the Angels, 5-2, at Comiskey Park and stayed five games behind the Oakland Athletics in the American League West race.

Because Abbott (8-12) had pitched out of a jam in the first and appeared to have settled down, Chicago Manager Jeff Torborg feared for his club’s chances when the Angels took a 2-0 lead in the third off Edwards (3-2) on a walk, two ground outs, a single by Chili Davis and a double by Dave Winfield.

“That Abbott is a good pitcher and some athlete. I thought we were in trouble,” said Torborg, whose club is 23 games above .500 for the first time since Sept. 9, 1983, the year the White Sox last won the AL West.

“He had a fine slider, we were down by two and we didn’t score in our other opportunity. That was a great big hit by Pudge (Fisk). You almost take him for granted. Almost.”

Abbott granted the White Sox credit for scoring four times in his 6 1/3 innings, but he said the slider to Fisk in the third wasn’t what--or where--he should have thrown.

“I don’t think it was a real good pitch in that situation. It was over the plate, and I would have like to have been more aggressive with it,” said Abbott, who has lost three of his last four decisions. “It really wasn’t my pitch.”

But it was Chicago’s night. The White Sox scored once in the seventh when Sammy Sosa walked, moved to second on a sacrifice, stole third and scored on Ivan Calderon’s single, and added another run in the ninth on Ozzie Guillen’s RBI single.

“I thought Jimmy did well. He gave up one crucial hit to Fisk, but other than that he pitched exceptionally well,” Manager Doug Rader said after the Angels’ fourth consecutive loss, which left them in sixth place and a season-high 18 1/2 games out of first.

“But that’s the reality of going less than good as opposed to very well, as those guys are. Invariably, one pitch, one at-bat tells the story. When you’re going well it all falls into place. When you’re not, the other club takes advantage.”

Edwards did a respectable job through six before yielding to Pall for one perfect inning, Jones for another and Thigpen, who increased his major league-leading save total to 43--three short of Dave Righetti’s record--for the close.

“Wayne’s got the stuff to be a starter,” Fisk said. “He’s had three good starts in a row, and I hope he can continue that. He got out of a couple tough situations tonight. He gave up a couple runs, but he kept us in the ballgame, and that’s exactly what we ask our starters to do. Then we just gave it to Donn and Barry and Thiggy.”

Fisk has kept a hot offensive pace, going nine for 24 with eight RBIs in his last seven games. He has also handled Chicago’s young pitching staff with authority. “Most games, they follow me pretty well,” he said. “That’s part of having played since the turn of the century. They can’t question my thought process very often.”

Fisk doesn’t question the difficulty of the White Sox’s chase--or doubt that they can stay in it.

“The A’s have had some people hurt, but they’re still running. They haven’t slowed down to a trot,” Fisk said. “Tonight’s game, this is the way we’ve been doing it and hopefully it’s the way we’ll keep doing it.”

Angel Notes

First baseman Lee Stevens got a scare during batting practice when he was struck on the back of the neck by a line drive hit by Max Venable. Stevens, who had been standing with a group of players behind second base, lay face down on the infield for several minutes but walked off the field. After attention from trainer Ned Bergert, he was able to play.

Nolan Ryan’s scheduled start against the Angels Tuesday at Anaheim Stadium might be postponed until Wednesday. The Rangers have not yet announced their rotation for that three-game series.

Second baseman Johnny Ray, who hasn’t played in four games and is unhappy about his decreased playing time, met with General Manager Mike Port during batting practice Friday to discuss his situation. Neither would comment on the conversation. Ray is hitting .271 but his lack of range has relegated him to the bench.

The sight of Port in Chicago had players wondering whether a trade is in the works. “Is Larry Himes (Chicago’s GM) here? He is? Uh-oh. I don’t want to play here,” Devon White said in mock concern.

Port said he has “nothing new or exciting” going on in trade talks, which he characterized as the usual chats he conducts with his peers.

Bryan Harvey has a strained muscle in his left-upper back but was available to pitch Friday. . . . Pitcher Bert Blyleven, placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 11, won’t be activated when he’s eligible. The 39-year-old right-hander is following a rehabilitation program for his strained right shoulder and won’t resume throwing until next week. . . . Dante Bichette’s start in center field was his first since July 14.

Third baseman Jack Howell, who had been idled by a pulled groin muscle while playing for triple-A Edmonton, has recovered enough to DH and should be playing his position by the weekend.