Valera Has A’s Shooting Blanks, 10-0

Each time he returned to the Angels’ dugout, Julio Valera stared at the string of zeros across the Anaheim Stadium scoreboard and the “1” in the Oakland Athletics’ hit column.

“I would look and think, ‘When was that last one?’ ” he said. “I knew it was in the first inning and I got, like, 22 in a row. I wanted that one-hitter bad.”

Valera didn’t get his wish, but he was delighted to get a four-hitter and a complete game in the Angels’ 10-0 rout of Oakland Saturday before 26,344.

“You can face a team like the A’s and do well against them, and face the worst team in baseball and do bad,” said Valera (4-5), who pitched four scoreless relief innings against the A’s on April 21. “This is a crazy game.”

Backed by Gary DiSarcina’s home run in the fifth inning--which provided the game’s first run--and Gary Gaetti’s three-run homer in the sixth, Valera led the Angels to their sixth victory in eight games on this home stand and their biggest romp since a 12-2 trouncing of the Cleveland Indians on May 10, 1991.

After Harold Baines’ first-inning double to right field, Valera retired 22 consecutive batters before Walt Weiss singled to lead off the ninth inning. Valera recorded half of those outs on ground balls, attesting to the effectiveness of his forkball and sinking fastball, and struck out Carney Lansford, Baines and Mark McGwire in the fourth.

Rid of the soreness in his right elbow that led interim Manager John Wathan to give him seven days between his first two June starts, Valera had a lively fastball that baffled the A’s.

“You probably have the advantage the first time facing a team, but when you do it the second time, third time and the fourth time, hopefully, you’ve got something special,” Wathan said. “I really like his attitude. Nothing seems to rattle him. (When the Angels acquired him for Dick Schofield) we knew we had a good arm, but we didn’t think he’d be this good.”

After Weiss hit a 3-and-2 pitch into center field, Valera hopped off the mound in frustration. Lance Blankenship singled and Rickey Henderson flied to left before Lansford singled to center to load the bases, but Valera preserved his second shutout by getting Baines to ground into a double play.

Valera’s unsteadiness at the start of the inning, he said, was because of his long wait while the Angels scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth--an excuse not often available to Angel pitchers.

“I was on the bench at least 15 minutes, and then I was playing catch down in the tunnel,” he said. “When the first guy got that base hit I was mad. After that, I just wanted the shutout. They get three soft singles, and the guy who hit it the hardest hit into a double play. This is a crazy game.”

It was a rocky game for Oakland starter Bob Welch (3-4), who gave up the homers to DiSarcina and Gaetti, and an even rockier game for the A’s bullpen. The Angels got to Vince Horsman for two runs in the seventh inning and battered Gene Nelson for three singles, a walk and a two-run triple by Luis Polonia in the eighth before Rick Honeycutt silenced their bats.

“I hate getting beat, period, let alone getting beat, 10-0,” said Welch, who had won 10 consecutive decisions against the Angels since April, 1988.

Instead of blaming Welch for the outcome, Oakland Manager Tony La Russa credited Valera.

“We can’t get a baserunner off him,” La Russa said. “He just had good stuff and made good pitches. He got behind some hitters but still made quality pitches.”

Gaetti, who slammed a 2-and-1 pitch from Welch to right-center field for his first homer this season with runners on base, enjoyed playing behind Valera.

“He throws strikes and you do get a lot of ground balls,” Gaetti said. “As far as the infielders are concerned, he keeps you on your toes. He doesn’t hold the ball a long time, and that’s to the infielders’ advantage. I like to play these kinds of games.”

So does Valera, who shut out the New York Yankees on five hits May 7. He has reduced his earned-run average to 2.95 and become the second-winningest Angel starter. Only Mark Langston, 7-4 in 13 starts, has won more than Valera, who has made 12 starts.

“You’re going to have a bad day someday, but so far I’ve been lucky to keep the team close and at least go six or seven,” Valera said.

Gaetti hopes the Angels’ bad days are behind them.

“We’re coming out of a really, really difficult time,” said Gaetti, whose own offensive struggles have inspired him to try--by his count--66 different stances in 66 games. “Whether we’re appointed to do what we’re doing or if it’s just happened, we’ve had a bad time the last couple of seasons. We deserve an upswing.”