Fryman’s Home Runs Beat Angels

Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson is renowned for predicting Hall of Fame careers for players who enjoy one brilliant moment before fading into obscurity, but as far as the Angels are concerned, third baseman Travis Fryman appears to deserve every bit of Anderson’s praise.

Fryman hit two home runs Tuesday--the second to break a tie in the eighth inning--and drove in three runs to lead Detroit to a 4-2 victory at Anaheim Stadium. Fryman, who had never hit two homers in a game, lofted a 1-and-0 pitch from Angel reliever Bryan Harvey (0-2) into the left-field seats to break a 2-2 tie and disappoint a crowd of 21,500.

However, Fryman delighted his manager, who compared him with last season’s American League most valuable player.

“He enjoys playing. Travis Fryman is one young man--and I won’t be around long enough to see him finish--but he’s one young man who’s going to be great,” Anderson said.

“He reminds me of Cal Ripken. He really wants to be something as a ballplayer, not a big shot. . . . By the time 1995 rolls around and he’s 25 years old, from that point on he’ll be a great player.”

He was a great annoyance to the Angels, who had built a 2-0 lead on Junior Felix’s first-inning homer and Felix’s RBI single in the third.

Fryman victimized Angel starter Mark Langston for his first home run, a first-pitch drive to left field in the fourth inning, and drove in the second run with a grounder to the right side in the fifth, after Dan Gladden and Alan Trammell had singled.

“I threw a pitch right down the middle of the plate. You’re not supposed to miss those,” Langston said of Fryman’s first home run. “It was a good pitch, but it was right there in his zone.”

Langston persevered through seven innings despite an upset stomach. He gave up nine hits and one walk and struck out three.

“I didn’t feel physically real good, but I battled out there,” he said. “It was disappointing. We’d like to win these games.”

The Angels have yet to win a game from Detroit in three tries and have scored only five runs against a pitching staff whose earned-run average was 5.15 before Tuesday’s game. Mark Leiter, a reliever moved into the starting rotation, held them to two runs through five innings before yielding to former Angel Frank Tanana (2-3).

Tanana escaped a bases-loaded, two-out situation in the seventh inning by getting Von Hayes to ground to first base, a good play completed on a slide to the bag by Skeeter Barnes.

“We didn’t have too many scoring opportunities, and we didn’t make the most of the ones wehad,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said.

But the Tigers, who have hit homers in 12 consecutive games, took advantage of their chances all night. They also took advantage of a rare bout of wildness by Harvey, whom Rodgers brought into a tie game in the eighth inning because Harvey hadn’t thrown the previous two days.

After Fryman’s leadoff homer in the eighth, the Tigers added a run on three walks, a fly ball and pinch-hitter Lou Whitaker’s fielder’s choice grounder. Mike Henneman pitched the final two innings to earn his sixth save.

“I just thought with Fryman coming up, why not go to the big guy,” Rodgers said, referring to Harvey.

Instead, Fryman and the Tigers enjoyed a big inning. Harvey hadn’t walked three batters in an inning since June 15, 1990--also against the Tigers.

“We have played the Angels better than anybody else this season,” Anderson said after his team balanced its record at 3-3 on its 10-game trip. “The best three games we’ve played all year have been against them. It’s a funny thing. Some teams you just happen to play your best against.”

The Angels, who have a 4-2 record on a home stand that ends today, hope they have seen the best--and the last--of the Tigers.

“We haven’t scored very many runs off them,” Rodgers said. “A team with that kind of power, you know they’re going to score a lot of runs.”