Finley Wins 18th With Plenty of Help : Baseball: Angels score seven in seventh and beat the Mariners, 7-1.

Chuck Finley didn’t mind waiting for the Angels to provide him the lavish support to which he has become accustomed. He thought he merited that punishment for putting so many Seattle runners on base Thursday while he struggled to find his form in the early innings.

After consideration, he decided his transgressions weren’t grievous enough to merit a loss to the Mariners and rookie right-hander Rich DeLucia, impressively as DeLucia was pitching in his second major league start.

“I deserved to wait. I think I had a man on base in every inning except one, maybe,” Finley said. “He was throwing good and we weren’t hitting too many balls that hard. I’ve won so many 1-0 games I thought maybe I’d find out what it looked like on the other side. I thought, ‘One run ain’t that much to ask for. Maybe two. OK, seven.’ ”

A seven-run seventh made the Angels 7-1 winners at Anaheim Stadium and brought Finley (18-6) within thinking distance of his first 20-win season and the first by an Angel pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1974.

Finley, who is 11-2 at home this season, retired the Mariners in order only in the seventh, but he struck out seven and reduced his earned-run average to 2.45--second in the AL to the 1.98 compiled by Boston’s Roger Clemens--in recording his club-leading sixth complete game of the season.

“When you say 18 (victories) and you look how close you are to 20, it puts a smile on your face,” said Finley, who has received 117 runs in support of his 29 starts. “I’m not going to lie and tell you I don’t think about 20, because I do. Any starting pitcher in the major leagues thinks about it. I try not to talk about it, but it does cross my mind.”

The only Mariner to cross the plate was Dave Valle, with a two-out home run in the second inning.

The Angels were stymied by DeLucia, who was relieved with one out and Dick Schofield on second base in the seventh. Luis Polonia walked and Johnny Ray singled against Keith Comstock (7-4) to drive in Schofield with the tying run. Chili Davis was walked intentionally to bring Dave Winfield to the plate. Hitting against Bill Swift, Winfield grounded to third, scoring Polonia. Ray and Davis scored on Lee Stevens’ single to right, and the rout was on.

“Thank God for that,” Finley said when told he has received the most offensive support on the Angels’ staff. “I gave up more runs in ’88 than anybody on the staff, so it’s my turn to get some this year.”

Manager Doug Rader believes Finley has earned those runs--and everything else he gets.

“He got to the point where he started grinding a little bit too hard, but I think he’s going at it the right way again,” said Rader, whose club moved two games above .500 for the first time since June 25 and staved off elimination in the AL West for at least one more night. “He’s a bright guy and he’s got strong intangible qualities. The first time in pursuit of anything is difficult, but if anybody’s going to get over the hump, it’s Chuck. He’s obviously blessed physically, and emotionally he’s able to pull himself back on course.”

Finley will get four more starts this season in his quest for 20 victories. “I had a talk with Doug and he said, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’s going to happen. Don’t go out and try to do anything different,’ ” Finley said. “You don’t try to change your approach. . . . Tonight I started out slow and worked myself into a little groove. It was one of those games where the other pitcher wasn’t giving us much. Games like that, you’ve got to keep it close to give us a chance and give our offense time to score some runs.”

Angel Notes

The Angels recalled five players Thursday and purchased the contract of another after triple-A Edmonton’s loss to Albuquerque in the Pacific Coast League finals. Recalled were pitchers Scott Bailes and Jeff Richardson, infielders Gary DiSarcina and Bobby Rose and catcher John Orton. The contract of pitcher Scott Lewis was purchased from the Trappers.

Bailes, 2-0 with the Angels with a 6.37 earned-run average earlier this season, was 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA for Edmonton. Orton, who hit .171 with the Angels in 26 games, hit .241 for Edmonton; and DiSarcina, who hit .120 in 15 games with the Angels, hit .299 in 61 games for Edmonton. Richardson was 5-0 with 10 saves and a 1.86 ERA for Edmonton. Rose hit .283 with 68 RBIs in 134 games for Edmonton.

None of the six was in Thursday’s lineup. “When guys are called up, I don’t feel obligated to play them. We’re obligated to win every ballgame, and if a guy falls within that guideline, that’s fine,” Manager Doug Rader said. “As far as experimenting, I never thought that’s the right thing to do.”

However, given the injuries bothering various players, Rader was glad to get reinforcements. Jack Howell is playing despite a tender groin muscle, Pete Coachman has had a swollen right knee and Chili Davis is day to day because of a sore back but played Thursday.

Max Venable (sprained right ankle) has improved but is still unavailable. Donnie Hill (sprained left wrist) is still limited to defensive duty and can’t hit.