Gonzales Runs Angels Past Tigers

Rene Gonzales didn’t see Von Hayes’ single after it bounced through the hole between first and second, and he didn’t notice how casually Tiger right fielder Tony Phillips played the ball.

Gonzales, taking off from first with a full count, the bases loaded and two out in the eighth inning, realized he had no place to look but ahead.

“I knew, regardless, I was going to end up on third,” Gonzales said, “but when I approached third base I kind of sensed I’d be sent in because Ken Macha, (the Angels’ third base coach) gave no sign at all. Not until I hit third base (and) he said, ‘You’ve got to go,’ and he gave me a wave.”

Gonzales’ baserunning stunned the Tigers in the Angels’ 4-3 victory before a Sunday crowd of 30,549 at Anaheim Stadium.

“That’s the way things have been happening for us lately,” said Gonzales, who got a huge jump after seeing left-hander Buddy Groom take a full windup instead of pitching from the stretch. “We didn’t really hit a ball hard in that inning. . . . We’re expecting to do things like that now. It really isn’t a surprise.”

Phillips, normally a second baseman, was unprepared for Gonzales’ dash home.

“It never entered my mind,” he said. “I was trying to prevent a double and giving up a couple of runs on a base hit. Had I even considered it a possibility, I would have charged harder and made a better throw. I wanted to hit the cutoff man, but I lobbed it to him.”

It was the Angels’ fifth consecutive one-run victory and their fifth come-from-behind victory on this home stand. Chuck Crim, who relieved starter Julio Valera in the sixth inning, improved his record to 5-3 with the help of Joe Grahe’s one-hit, one-inning relief stint.

“We’re just trying to play good, hard baseball and make up for a lot of bad baseball we played in the first half,” said Hayes, who had flied to left as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. That fly was deep enough for Chad Curtis to tag and take third after Frank Tanana issued back-to-back walks, and Curtis scored on pinch-hitter Ken Oberkfell’s sacrifice fly to right.

“A lot of fans are coming out, and we owe it to those fans to play well,” Hayes added. “We’re not proud of the way we played in the first half, and we’re all trying to get the job done now. If our pitchers hold us in games and give us a chance to win, we’re going to win some games.”

Singles by Luis Sojo and Junior Felix, a passed ball and a walk to Gonzales loaded the bases for Hayes, leading the Tigers to lift John Doherty (2-2) and bring in Groom to create a lefty-lefty matchup. Hayes worked the count to 3 and 2 and fouled back two low fastballs before getting the pitch he wanted.

“I tried to see a ball up a little bit,” Hayes said. “I tried to hit it hard on a line and see if I could hit it in a hole.”

He found the right hole, and Macha made the right call to help the Angels win for the 11th time in 14 games.

“Gonzales just ran his butt off. He gets all the credit,” said Macha, who waved Gary Gaetti home from first on a single Saturday. “He didn’t even think about stopping at third. When guys are hustling, it’s easy to send them in.”

Macha, the bullpen coach until John Wathan left the third base box to manage while Buck Rodgers recovers from the May 21 bus crash, said he waved Gonzales home before seeing Phillips’ weak throw.

“I wanted to keep him coming to third hard and he did,” Macha said. “I saw the throw coming in, but these guys have to be hustling to make things happen.”

Even Wathan wasn’t sure the rally would happen, not after a strong six innings from Tanana and the 3-0 lead Detroit had built in the third inning.

“This was a tremendous victory. It might have been one of the best come-from-behind ones by everybody this season,” he said. “The way Tanana was throwing, it looked like we were going to get beat by another left-hander. He’s the master and he was mixing pitches. Then he lost his control (walking the first two batters in the seventh) and we got into their bullpen. . . .

“I told Kenny that as soon as I get back to third base, I’m going to try the same thing and I’ll probably get caught.”

Angel Attendance

Sunday: 30,549

1991 (48 dates): 1,497,400

1992 (48 dates): 1,332,707

Decrease: 164,693

Average: 27,765