59,502 See Tigers Defeat Abbott, Angels

Jim Abbott, along with Chuck Finley and Mark Langston, is one of several left-handers who have been thriving with the Angels lately.

Abbott was trying for a six-game winning streak Saturday night. Abbott pitched terrific Saturday, for almost long enough.

He had a one-hitter against the Detroit Tigers through six innings, giving up nothing but a check-swing single to Tony Phillips, the first batter he faced in the game.

But he faltered enough in the seventh and eighth to leave the game a loser, 4-3, on Lou Whitaker’s three-run homer in the eighth.

“He was throwing great,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “He threw Whitaker a hittable pitch, I grant that, but we should have won the game. We should have at least tied it in the ninth.”

One night after drawing a season-high crowd of 49,977 for Fernando Valenzuela’s Angel debut, the Angels surpassed that by nearly 10,000, attracting 59,502 to the ballpark Saturday with a giveaway of replicas of the old-style Angel caps bearing a halo on top.

The free caps drew more fans to Anaheim Stadium than the Angels had since Aug. 13, 1989, when Oakland was in town with the Angels contending for the division title.

Abbott (5-5) had begun to fall behind hitters in the seventh, but entered the eighth with a 3-1 lead, the only run a homer by Alan Trammell.

After getting the first out, Abbot gave up a single to Andy Allanson. Then Abbott’s evening went sour. He walked Phillips on four pitches and got a visit from pitching coach Marcel Lachemann on the mound. The Angels elected to leave him in, prefering Abbott against Whitaker to a reliever facing a pinch-hitter such as Mickey Tettleton.

Abbott threw two balls to Whitaker--his fifth and sixth consecutive balls-- before the second baseman drove the third pitch to deepest center field. Max Venable leaped at the wall not a dozen feet from the 404-foot sign, to no avail.

“I think I threw the ball pretty well tonight,” Abbott said. “I felt strong even to the last inning. It was a fastball up, give him credit, Whitaker hit the ball out.”

Abbott gave up a single to Trammell, the next hitter, before giving way to Mark Eichhorn, having given up four runs on six hits.

Abbott struck out seven, a season-best, and only two shy of his personal high.

The Angels fell short in the ninth when pinch-runner Ruben Amaro was unable to score from second on Donnie Hill’s line drive to center. Amaro, running for Dave Parker, who had singled, had moved to second on pinch-hitter Luis Sojo’s sacrifice bunt. But with one out, he held up on Hill’s hit to see if it would be caught, and was forced to hold at third.

“I froze on the line drive,” Amaro said. “(Pitcher Mike Henneman) had a chance at a play. I didn’t want to get doubled up.”

The Angels’ inability to score, plus Whitaker’s homer, spelled an end to Abbott’s chances.

“He was doing excellent,” catcher Ron Tingley said. “In the eighth he gave up the base hit, I didn’t think anything of it. Then he walked Tony Philips on four pitches, but I still didn’t get concerned.

“It’s tough when a guy dominates a team the way Jimmy had, and one bad inning costs the game.”

Through the first six innings, the only other baserunner was Whitaker, who reached on Luis Polonia’s error in the fourth inning. Polonia, charging in for Whitaker’s liner to left-center, slid to the ground, the ball bouncing away from him. He was charged with his fourth error.

Otherwise, Abbott had little trouble--until it was too late.

The Angels took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on three singles and an error by Allanson.

Polonia came to the plate with one out and runners on first and third after singles by Tingley and Dick Schofield. Polonia lined a pitch toward left that leaping third baseman Travis Fryman could only graze with his glove, and the Angels led, 1-0.

Schofield tagged and went to third when Wally Joyner flied out to the warning track in right for the second out, opening up second base for Polonia, who leads the American League in stolen bases with 18. Polonia took off, and Allanson’s throw to the bag was wide, Schofield scoring on the error. Winfield lined to third for the third out.

Tingley, who gets many of his starts on weekends when Rader lets Lance Parrish avoid playing a day game after a night game, added to the lead with a home run to left in the fifth.

It was the first homer since Aug. 3, 1988, for Tingley, who at 32 has spent less than two years in the majors. He hit the 1988 homer--the only other one of his career-- on the first pitch of his first American League at-bat, having broken into the majors briefly with San Diego in 1982.

The Angels could have used two more,

“It didn’t work out,” Rader said. “But don’t fault Jimmy. He pitched great.”