McCaskill Looks Skillful Again

The way he pitched Saturday, you’d think Kirk McCaskill was 16-10, not the other way around.

“Everything was there,” said Ron Tingley, who caught McCaskill’s sterling eight innings in the Angels’ 1-0 victory over Boston at Anaheim Stadium. McCaskill gave up three hits, scattered harmlessly in three different innings.

“If I sit back and count ‘em,” Tingley said. “I think he made two bad pitches all night.”

It was not the same form that has made McCaskill the major league leader in losses with 16, and swelled his earned-run average to 4.37. A year after gutting out the year with a painful elbow, the losses and the frustration have been heaped on a healthy McCaskill this season. Lately, the wear and tear seemed to be showing.

McCaskill put it aside Saturday.

“I just tried to wipe the slate clean and go from there,” McCaskill said.

“I tried to stay focused pitch to pitch. I’ve been carrying a lot of crap around in my mind. I just tried to lock everything out.”

That translated into a shutout of the Red Sox, with Bryan Harvey surviving a tense ninth inning for his club-record tying 31st save of the season.

The Red Sox had hoped to see McCaskill in the form that has seen him give up seven home runs in the past 32 innings, including one by light-hitting Seattle shortstop Omar Vizquel.

That’s not what they got.

“He pitched a lot better than they told me he was pitching, I’ll tell you that,” Boston Manager Joe Morgan said.

McCaskill pitched a lot better than the Angels had seen him pitch for some time. He struck out two, and for the first time since July 11, didn’t walk a batter. And while he avoided a 17th loss, he locked in his 10th victory, giving him five 10-win seasons in his six-year career, and his third in a row.

“I saw a lot of the old Mac,” said Marcel Lachemann, the Angel pitching coach. “He threw a lot of curves, and a lot of curves for strikes.”

That, as much as anything, is a key to McCaskill’s success.

The Angels have let him down at times this year: During his 16 losses, they have scored 14 runs with him in the game. But lately, McCaskill knew that much of the problem has been his own. Sure, the Angels’ scored only one run in his loss Monday to Seattle, but McCaskill gave up five runs in four innings, throwing 92 pitches in less than half a game.

The Angels, in need of a dependable fifth starter all season, looked rather in need of a fourth starter as well.

McCaskill, who in a wrenching twist of fate is eligible for free agency after this season, became the subject of trade rumors, as he has at other times in his career.

That wasn’t what weighed on his mind before Saturday, McCaskill said. His record and his pride are much more in the here and now.

The Angels were glad to see him have a rewarding outing--for him and for them.

“I’m very happy for Mac,” Manager Doug Rader said. “He certainly deserved a break. I was glad to see him get one finally.”