Harvey, Langston Lead Angels to a .500 Finish

Bryan Harvey finished the season as the American League’s save leader and Mark Langston finished as the Angels’ top winner, but most of all, they were grateful to be finished.

Harvey’s 46th save preserved Langston’s 19th victory Sunday, a 3-1 triumph over the Royals in front of a crowd of 27,588 at Anaheim Stadium. The pair’s accomplishments helped the last-place Angels finish at .500, a modest feat but still a pleasant memory to carry into the off-season.

“It’s very unfortunate where we finished up. I still think this is a very good team,” said Langston (19-8), who struck out a season-high 10 Sunday and recorded the most victories by an Angel pitcher since Nolan Ryan won 19 in 1977.

“We’re a better team than where we are in the standings,” added Langston, who was 10-17 last season. “In the second half, we just didn’t play well and did not do the things we’re capable of doing. It’s disappointing because I thought we’d be contending. It’s almost good that we saw Toronto clinch (the AL East title) the other day and I hope a lot of guys absorbed that feeling, because that’s where we want to be.”

Harvey shrugged off the honor of becoming the AL’s top reliever. His save was a club-record 50th for the bullpen, one more than the record set in 1970.

“If we’d finished first, it would be different,” Harvey said. “We go home today and I’d trade it all in to be playing Tuesday.”

The Angels’ offense Sunday consisted of Gary Gaetti’s three-run home run down the left-field line off Mark Davis (6-3) in the fifth inning. Gaetti scored the 20,000th run in club history when he crossed the plate with his 18th homer of the season.

“If you could choose a way to end it,” he said, “this would be the way you’d want to end it.”