Finley Paves the Way on Opening Day : Angels: He pitches strong 7 1/3 innings. Joyner drives in third run in a 3-2 victory over Mariners.

Had Angel Manager Doug Rader determined his opening-day starter based on spring pitching performances, Chuck Finley would have been a spectator Tuesday night.

“I would have been in A-ball, rookie ball,” said Finley, who flailed through a dismal exhibition season and finished with a 9.00 earned-run average.

“But that’s just what Doug and the other guys told me, ‘Tear up that sheet of paper (with his spring statistics). It’s time to rock and roll.’ ”

Designated hitter Dave Parker rocked Seattle starter Erik Hanson for a home run and a triple in his first two Angel at-bats and Finley rolled through 7 1/3 strong innings as the Angels inaugurated their season with a 3-2 victory over the Mariners before a crowd of 53,671 at the Kingdome.

“That’s what makes him special,” Rader said of Finley, who was awarded the opening-day start at the end of last season in recognition of his career-best 18-9 record.

“In spring training, he had a gear, and when the season started, he found another gear. . . . There’s a lot to be said for ringing the bell, for doing something when it counts and isn’t just an exercise.”

Finley had brushed off his exhibition flops by saying: “I’ve never seen spring stats on the back of a bubble-gum card.”

His outing was one he was proud to have in the books--and it was that much better than a week ago because he knew it would be in the record books and not discarded with spring rosters.

“These are the ones that contribute to wins and losses and pennants and October,” said Finley, who gave up five hits and two runs, struck out four and walked two. “You’ve got to make them pretty good. . . . I’d forgotten all those bad games. Your intensity and adrenaline levels are so much higher. You come into a place and you’ve got everything going on, all those people running around (in pregame ceremonies). I felt a little nervousness. I woke up this morning ready to pitch. I had to wait six, seven hours to start warming up.”

Parker gave him early support with a home run over the right-field scoreboard in the second inning, becoming the eighth player to hit a homer in his first at-bat as an Angel. It was most recently done by Claudell Washington on April 4, 1989.

“I got a little excited about this one,” said Parker, who had hit six spring home runs but was one for 12 in his previous encounters with Hanson. “It was my first official at-bat with the Angels, and it was a good feeling.”

Parker made Finley feel good when he tripled in the fifth and scored on Lance Parrish’s single to left. “I welcome Dave with open arms,” Finley said, smiling.

The Angels’ final run proved the difference, when they scored in the eighth on a walk by Dick Schofield, Luis Polonia’s infield single and Wally Joyner’s two-out single to center.

The Mariners scored both their runs in the bottom of the eighth. Omar Vizquel doubled to left-center and scored on Harold Reynolds’ single to left. Edgar Martinez then lofted a foul pop-up that struck a wire that supports the screen behind home plate, and Angel catcher Parrish caught it for the apparent second out. However, after home plate umpire Jim McKean called Martinez out, umpire Vic Voltaggio overruled him and brought Martinez back to the plate.

Given a second chance, Martinez walked. Rader summoned right-hander Bryan Harvey, who struck out left-handed hitter Ken Griffey Jr. and gave up a run-scoring single to Alvin Davis before retiring Jay Buhner to end the inning.

Although the ground rules state that if a ball hitting a suspended object in foul territory is caught by a fielder the batter is out, Rader said the umpires told him that wasn’t the case during their pregame conference to discuss the ground rules. Rader said they told him it would be a dead ball. “Obviously, that needs to be clarified,” he said.

Rader and Finley were clearly pleased by the Angels’ first-night success.

“The ballgame Dave had, Lance’s ballgame (Parrish was three for four), Wally getting that RBI when he did, the job by Chuck and Bryan, that was all outstanding,” Rader said. “We also caught the ball. . . . A lot of good things happened.”

Finley expects them to continue happening. “This team has got a lot higher intensity level than in previous years,” he said. “We really want to succeed. We want to win for Doug and for each other.”