Davis Comes Up Hacking, and It Works for Angels

Alvin Davis didn’t need a computer to tell him how he had done against Cleveland Indian reliever Ted Power. If someone had handed him a chart of Power’s tendencies and his own results before he went to the plate in the ninth inning Sunday, Davis would have crumpled it.

“I just tried to tell myself to be aggressive, have an aggressive attitude up there,” said Davis, who knocked in the go-ahead run with a single in a 6-3 Angel victory.

“In my experience pinch-hitting, (relievers) don’t mess around,” Davis said. “They don’t like to be nibbling in those situations, so they’ll come right in there. As a hitter, you can think yourself into a hole. When it comes to pinch hitting, I haven’t met anybody yet who’s got it down to a science. You go up and just hack.”

Davis’ hack at Power’s first pitch with runners on first and second landed in center field for a single, sending Chad Curtis home at Cleveland Stadium.

Although Curtis had a good jump and probably was going to be safe, he bulled his way past catcher Junior Ortiz just to be sure, giving Ortiz a forearm. It turned out to be unnecessary when center fielder Kenny Lofton’s throw was wide of the plate, but Ortiz reacted without malice, unlike Seattle’s Dave Valle, who went after Curtis on a similar play last Sunday.

A single by Gary Gaetti scored Hubie Brooks with the fifth run, with Lofton’s bobble allowing Davis to move to third and Gaetti to second. Davis scored the final run on Bobby Rose’s sacrifice fly to left field.

That made a winner out of Scott Bailes (2-0) after Bryan Harvey pitched a hitless ninth inning to earn his eighth save.

“I didn’t have any other way to go,” said Curtis, who had thrown out the speedy Alex Cole at home in the seventh inning to prevent Cleveland from taking the lead. “The catcher was five feet above home plate, and he was trying to block my foot and I was trying to score. It’s good to see he realized it, too.”

The Angels realized their victory Sunday--their third in four games against the Indians and fourth in six games on this trip--was the result of superb defense.

Although the Indians stole seven bases--including five by Cole--a spectacular double play begun by second baseman Rose in the fourth inning helped Angel starter Chuck Finley survive five innings and exit with a 3-2 lead.

The Angels scored twice in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by Junior Felix and an RBI double by Brooks, but Cleveland scored an unearned run in the bottom of the inning when Cole singled to center, stole second, stole third and scored on a passed ball on four consecutive pitches.

The Angels’ run in the top of the fourth--on a two-out single by Gary DiSarcina, a stolen base, an error and Luis Polonia’s infield single--was matched in the bottom of the inning.

Albert Belle drew a leadoff walk, took third on Mark Whiten’s double and scored on Brook Jacoby’s sacrifice fly.

After Craig Worthington walked, Ortiz hit a shot to the right side, which Rose knocked down by diving far to his right. He flipped the ball out of his glove to DiSarcina while on his knees, getting Worthington for the force, and DiSarcina threw a bouncing relay to first in time to get the slow Ortiz.

“That’s the best double play I’ve seen in a long time,” Manager Buck Rodgers said. “That’s a run if the double play isn’t made, and it’s a big inning probably if it gets all the way through.”

Said Curtis: “That was probably the best double play I’ve ever seen. Some outstanding defensive plays kept us in this game. We scored three in the ninth, but if we hadn’t held them to three, their stopper would have been in the game and it would have been harder for us to win.”

Rose, who has been DiSarcina’s double-play partner in the minor and major leagues since 1989, said the pair can top Sunday’s spectacular play.

“We’ve got one more you’ve got to see,” he said, referring to a behind-the-back play they have fooled with but not pulled off in a game. “Everything worked out real good on this one. DiSar got taken out pretty hard, but he stayed on the bag and turned it. I was thinking if I couldn’t get this hand to the ball,” he said, lifting his right hand, “I just had to flip it. It’s the only thing you could do right there on that play.”

Lance Parrish saved a game by planting his left leg in front of the plate to keep Cole from scoring in the seventh after Cleveland had tied the game in the sixth.

Cole got to third base on an infield single and two steals, and he took off on Carlos Baerga’s fly to medium-deep right. Cole’s speed surprised Curtis--”I thought he’d be out pretty easy, but he’s pretty fast,” Curtis said--but Parrish’s left leg blocked Cole’s left leg.

Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove was ejected for arguing the call with home plate umpire Dan Morrison.

“I got the throw in time and I tried to plant my left leg,” said Parrish.

“That’s just basically the way that play goes from that side.”

The Angels’ trip has gone well so far, as they head to Detroit for two games.

“We’d like to finish strong and take that back to Anaheim,” Curtis said. “We’ve just got to go at them.”