Abbott Finds No Solace in a 1-0 Loss

His first two pitches to pinch-hitter Pat Tabler were well out of the strike zone and so was the third, high and outside. Oblivious to the roars that filled the SkyDome and the runners dancing off each base with two out in the bottom of the ninth, Jim Abbott swallowed hard.

“The first two pitches, you’re trying to make quality pitches,” said Abbott’s batterymate, Lance Parrish. “When it got to 2 and 0, he got in the frame of mind that he might have tried to guide the ball a bit, and it got away from him.”

Abbott’s 128th pitch was another fastball, again high, not even close to the strike zone. Abbott knew it. But as pinch-runner Rob Ducey jogged home with the decisive run in Toronto’s 1-0 victory Wednesday, Abbott stared at home plate as if his gaze could change the course of that pitch and the game.

Abbott (1-3) could gain no satisfaction from knowing his nine-hit, seven-strikeout performance was his best of the season, or that it was the longest outing by an Angel starter. The disappointment was too keen for even the slightest satisfaction to seep through.

“Not right now,” the Angel left-hander said softly. “You do the best you can. The objective is to go out there and hold them and give your team a chance to win. I did that, but you guys saw what happened. I don’t want to make any excuses.”

Abbott, who last Sept. 24 pitched nine shutout innings against the Blue Jays only to lose in the 10th on a three-run home run by Pat Borders, needed no excuses Wednesday. He needed offensive support and he needed luck, but got neither. It was his misfortune that Toronto starter Todd Stottlemyre (3-1) was slightly better Wednesday, holding the Angels to seven hits and striking out five. It was also Abbott’s misfortune that Angel third baseman Gary Gaetti misplayed a bouncer by Borders that might have become a force out at third and ended the game.

“I’m a fan of Jim Abbott’s, so while this is a thrill for me, I hurt for him,” said Stottlemyre, who pitched 7 1/3 innings against Abbott in that game last September. “I know him and have a tremendous amount of respect for him and he’s one hell of a human being. I root for him every game he pitches except against us. To watch him lose the way he did is really a shame.”

Said Angel Manager Buck Rodgers: “I told him, ‘This is the toughest game you’re going to lose. You may pitch for 20 years and not lose a tougher one than that.’ ”

It was especially tough because after Dave Winfield led off the ninth with a single to center, Kelly Gruber bounced into a double play. After John Olerud singled to center and was replaced by Ducey, Candy Maldonado laced a single to left, putting runners on first and second. Borders hit a bouncer to third that appeared to get Abbott out of the inning--until it rolled off Gaetti’s glove, loading the bases.

“I don’t know if the ball bounced or what,” Gaetti said. “I had decided beforehand I was going to try to step on the bag and if it hadn’t bounced so far away from me, I still might have been able to get (Borders) at first.

“It’s bad,” said Gaetti, who was charged with his eighth error of the season. “What can you say to (Abbott)? We didn’t score him any runs, and not only didn’t we score him any runs, I made a mistake that cost him the game. It can’t be a hard-hit ball, either. It’s got to be something simple. In a game like that, the team that makes the fewest mistakes wins.”

That brought up Tabler, who was 0 for 13 against Abbott but is 42 for 86 with 104 RBIs withthe bases loaded during his career.

“Olerud was swinging the bat very well and he hit the ball up the middle,” Abbott said, replaying the inning. “I felt like I made a decent pitch to Maldonado and he hit it to left. They’re a good-hitting ballclub. I wish I hadn’t walked the last guy. I just broke down a little bit.

“It’s a tough way to lose.”