Guzman Rights the Blue Jays, 4-1 : Baseball: He beats Angels after Toronto loses first two games of weekend series.

The Toronto Blue Jays arrived in Anaheim playing .700 ball and leading the American League East. But going into Sunday’s series finale, they had lost back-to-back games to the Angels and slipped into second place behind the Baltimore Orioles.

They didn’t leave in second place. The Angels had a lackluster outing, and Toronto’s Juan Guzman made sure of the outcome with a four-hitter that moved Toronto back on top of the division with a 4-1 victory over the Angels on Sunday before 23,009 at Anaheim Stadium.

“We ran into a buzz saw,” said Manager Buck Rodgers, who watched as the Angels walked seven batters, committed two errors and had outfielder Luis Polonia ejected from the game for arguing the call when he was picked off first base in the fourth inning.

Would a better Angel performance have mattered? Guzman, with his outstanding hard slider, kept the Angels at bay.

“I’m surprised we got one run off of him,” Rodgers said. “He was really throwing good.”

Guzman, 25, a former Dodger minor leaguer who was traded to the Blue Jays for Mike Sharperson in 1987, is 5-0 after six starts. He struck out five and walked none in the second complete game of his career.

Last year, he became the first Toronto rookie to start a postseason game.

“He’s going to be one of--or is one of--the good young pitchers in this league,” Rodgers said. “He’s got a chance to be a real star.”

Joe Carter took care of most of the offensive support for Guzman, driving in three runs, one of them on a 412-foot home run to center off Angel starter Joe Grahe in the third inning.

Rodgers saw early that the Angels might not be able to score many runs off Guzman. He also watched Grahe, who threw away a 15-foot toss to first base in the first inning after fielding a ball off the bat of leadoff hitter Devon White and never quite found a rhythm.

Grahe, who lasted only 3 2/3 innings and took the loss after giving up two runs on six hits and four walks, is 2-3 with a 5.90 earned-run average.

Rodgers said that rookie Julio Valera, who is 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA, will take Grahe’s next turn. Grahe will be considered for a start May 19, when the Angels will next use a fifth starter.

“Something we have to evaluate is whether he’s going forward or backward,” Rodgers said. “He showed signs of going forward in Detroit (Grahe’s last start). I thought there might be carry over. There wasn’t any carry over.

“He was in trouble every inning.”

Grahe gave up runs in the second and third innings, and Rodgers pulled him in the fourth after he walked two consecutive batters to load the bases.

“I got out of sync a little bit and had to battle,” Grahe said. “It just didn’t work tonight. I’ll have to go home and think about it. At this point, it’s really hard to analyze what happened.”

Grahe knows that his hold on a starting spot is weakening. Don Robinson, on the disabled list, is expected to compete for the May 19 start. Bert Blyleven, who is in the minors attempting a comeback at 41 after major shoulder surgery, also might work his way into contention.

“You think about it,” Grahe said. “You’ve got to drop that once you go out on the field.”

Scott Bailes, who hadn’t pitched since May 3, followed Grahe and ended the fourth-inning threat on Roberto Alomar’s fly to left.

Bailes found himself in similar trouble in the sixth inning, when he loaded the bases with two outs on three consecutive walks.

Mark Eichhorn relieved him, but Joe Carter’s two-run single beyond the reach of diving second baseman Bobby Rose gave Toronto a 4-1 lead.

“When Carter dribbled that base hit through the middle, that was kind of the last nail in the coffin, with Guzman throwing the way he was,” Rodgers said.

Dave Winfield, the next batter, was trying to extend his personal-best 17-game hitting streak, but he hit a pop fly and the inning was over. Winfield, an Angel last season, lost his streak by going 0 for 5.

The game turned into an exercise for a too-rested bullpen. Steve Frey, who hadn’t pitched since May 3, worked two innings before giving way in the eighth to Chuck Crim, who hadn’t pitched since last Monday.

That was good for the bullpen, and about the only good in the game for the Angels.

“Too much Juan Guzman today,” Rodgers said.

Angel Attendance

Sunday: 23,009

1992 (14 dates): 380,399

1991 (14 dates): 396,890

Decrease: 16,491

1992 average: 27,171