Royals Win It for Cone : Angels: Joyner forces in winning run with a walk in 10th, giving free agent his first victory. Langston strikes out 12.

Kansas City Royal reliever Jeff Montgomery vowed to wait until the appropriate moment, and Friday night after the Royals’ 2-1, 10-inning victory over the Angels, he finally was able to unveil his secret garb.

He reached back into his locker, pulled the rubber mask out, and there it was for all the world to see--an honest-to-goodness Conehead.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” said Montgomery, who recorded his ninth save. “We finally got him a victory. Now, we can have fun.”

Starter David Cone (1-5), who returned to his hometown this winter when he signed a three-year, $18-million free-agent contract, finally won his first game of the season. Finally, the Royals scored some runs for him. Yes, all of two.

“He’s a confident guy, and he never got down on himself,” Royal Manager Hal McRae said. “He’s been pitching well, and he knew things had to change.

“We just told him not to try to do too much. Don’t worry about the strikeouts. We’ve got a pretty good defense. Let them catch the ball, too.”

Cone, whose teammates had scored only 16 runs for him in his first seven starts, yielded only four hits during his nine-inning stint, striking out eight batters.

The Royals, who scored only one run off Mark Langston in nine innings, took succinct advantage once he left the game. They loaded the bases against reliever Julio Valera on a pinch-hit single by Chris Gwynn, and then watched the Angels botch two successive fielding plays on bunt attempts by Greg Gagne and Brian McRae.

When Wally Joyner stepped off the bench to pinch-hit, Angel Manager Buck Rodgers let Valera throw one pitch and then decided to summon left-hander Steve Frey. It backfired. Frey walked Joyner on a full count, and although the Royals inflicted no further damage, it was all they needed.

It seemed cruel that an unearned run would be the difference in the classic pitcher’s duel between Langston and Cone. Langston yielded only six hits while striking out 12, his only major flaw being Mike Macfarlane’s two-out, run-scoring single in the fourth inning.

It appeared Macfarlane’s hit might be all Cone would need until rookie Tim Salmon came up with one out in the seventh inning.

Salmon already has shown a flair for the dramatic, hitting game-winning home runs off Roger Clemens and Jim Abbott. This time, he added a new element: controversy.

Salmon, who had not hit a homer since April 28, spanning 41 at-bats, sent Cone’s fastball soaring toward the fence in right-center. Right fielder Felix Jose leaped, but the ball hit off the fence, caromed off the tarp eight feet behind the fence, and back onto the field. Jose, who replaced injured Kevin McReynolds in the sixth inning, threw the ball back into the infield while Salmon went to third.

Angel coaches Bobby Knoop and Ken Macha immediately began arguing that it should be called a home run. Manager Buck Rodgers rushed from the dugout, argued with home-plate umpire Tim Welke, and after a discussion with second-base umpire Durwood Merrill, it was properly ruled a home run.

That brought out McRae, who argued with Welke, then Merrill, and even summoned Jose for an explanation. The call stood, and Salmon had the first opposite-field homer of his major league career.

The most riveting irony of the night, however, took place in the Royal dugout. This is where Joyner sat until the 10th inning, watching rookie J.T. Snow occupy the position he manned for six seasons with the Angels.

It was at this stadium, back in 1986, when Wally World was conceived. Joyner, a baby-faced rookie, was replacing Hall of Famer Rod Carew at first base. He quickly ascended from an unknown to a national phenomenon. He hit 15 homers and drove in 38 runs the first 38 games of the season, becoming the most popular attraction in Anaheim since the Matterhorn.

“That year is probably the most fun, most memorable I’ve ever had,” said Joyner, who left as a free agent after the 1991 season. “It was something you dream about. Sometimes I wonder if it was even me, but someone else.”