Morris Sharp, but Timing Is All Wrong : Twins: He goes the distance on seven-hitter but is beaten by near-perfect Finley.

After his first two 1991 starts produced an 0-2 record and a bloated 9.58 earned-run average, Jack Morris returned to the kind of form Friday night that made the Minnesota Twins’ decision to throw gobs of money at him seem wise.

Morris, the former Detroit pitcher who signed a free-agent contract in February worth $3 million this season, was pinpointing his fastball against the Angels. His split-fingered fastball and forkball were producing plenty of ground-ball outs, and a sharp slider helped him record six strikeouts.

But his timing was terrible.

While Morris looked sharp, going the distance on a seven-hitter, Angel left-hander Chuck Finley was on the cutting edge of perfection, throwing a complete-game two-hitter and striking out nine in the Angels’ 2-0 victory before 22,583 in Anaheim Stadium.

Morris beat Finley twice last season in head-to-head competition, 7-4 on Aug. 22 and 3-2 on Sept. 18, but Finley already has evened the count this season, defeating Morris and the Twins, 9-4, in the Metrodome on Sunday and shutting them out Friday night.

“I felt good, but the bottom line is Chuck pitched a hell of a game,” said Morris, who needs two victories to reach the 200-victory plateau. “I’ve got to tip my hat to him. That was as good as I’ve ever seen him pitch. He was in complete control . . . I hate him.”

OK, Morris was just kidding, but the Twins’ 2-8 start, which includes a six-game losing streak, is no laughing matter. Morris (0-3) hopes his performance will help Minnesota snap out of its slump.

“In times like these, you’ve got to look for the good,” Morris said. “There are plenty of bad things going on, we’re not doing well, and it would be easy for me to feel bad about losing another game. But knowing I’m getting back on track is a plus for me, and I hope it will be a plus for everyone else.”

Before Morris could get back on track, he had to backtrack a bit. That meant rediscovering the command of his fastball. Morris, working with pitching Coach Dick Such, threw twice since last Sunday. He said he rarely throws between starts.

“I’ve been working on my fastball, establishing location,” Morris said. “It really helped because I was getting ahead on all the counts tonight, and that made all my other pitches fall in place.”

Except for at least two pitches, that is, one to Junior Felix that resulted in an RBI single in the seventh inning and one wild one to Lance Parrish, which allowed Wally Joyner to score in the eighth inning.

Otherwise, Morris had little trouble with the Angels, retiring them in order in four innings. After allowing the run in the seventh, Morris almost received a reprieve in the top of the eighth when Greg Gagne, with Scott Leius on first, hit a long fly ball to left field that hooked foul.

“Gagne misses a ball by 1 1/16th of an inch or that’s a home run,” Morris said. “That’s what makes this game so frustrating, so wonderful, so everything.”