Angels Win One the Easley Way, 6-3

Damion Easley looked out from the batter’s box Saturday night in the eighth inning and saw three potential runs batted in on the bases.

Standing in his way was the Baltimore Orioles’ hard-throwing closer, Gregg Olson. No matter, Easley told himself.

“Those are RBIs out there,” he said later. “Those win games.”

Easley’s three-run single to right-center field made the Angels 6-3 winners over the Orioles before 24,761 at Anaheim Stadium.

“I’ve had a few chances this year and come up on the wrong end,” Easley said after the Angels rallied from a three-run deficit and made Mark Langston (5-1) a winner after it looked like he had no chance to be.

The Angels could thank Baltimore’s shaky bullpen for the victory. Reliever Todd Frohwirth (2-4) gave up two walks and a single to Tim Salmon, then gave way to Brad Pennington, who walked J.T. Snow with the bases loaded to make it 3-3.

Pennington struck out Stan Javier, then was replaced by Olson, who struck out Rene Gonzales. With the crowd up and roaring, Easley drilled a fastball to score Salmon, Chili Davis and Snow.

Totals in the eighth: four runs, two hits, four walks.

The Angels will take it.

Early on, they misfired against Baltimore starter Rick Sutcliffe. But when Sutcliffe ran out of gas in the seventh inning, the Angels began their rally.

Greg Myers led off the inning with a sharp single to center field. After Sutcliffe retired Gonzales and Easley, pinch-hitter Torey Lovullo hammered a 2-and-0 pitch over the right-field wall, bringing the Angels within 3-2.

“Torey Lovullo brought us back from the dead,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said. “Sutcliffe was doing a job on us. Lovullo brought us back to life.”

The Orioles turned matters over to their bullpen after that, and the roof caved in shortly thereafter. It ruined a standout performance by Sutcliffe, who gave up five hits and two runs in seven innings.

The Angels had several scoring chances early in the game, but couldn’t come up with a two-out hit against Sutcliffe. He also helped himself get out of a potentially difficult start by picking off Chad Curtis in the first inning.

After Curtis doubled, Sutcliffe caught him trying to steal third.

Sutcliffe didn’t give up another hit until Myers’ one-out single to right field in the fifth. He got Gonzales to fly out, then walked Easley. But Gary DiSarcina grounded out to end the threat.

In the sixth, Salmon lined a two-out double into the left-field corner and Davis followed with a walk.

The scoring chance ended when Snow, battling the first prolonged slump of his young major league career, flied to left. That extended his hitless streak to 15 at-bats, dating to last Sunday’s game at Texas. Snow went into the game trying to end six-for-49 slide that has dropped his batting average from .267 to .220.

Until Lovullo’s homer in the seventh inning, Sutcliffe gave up only three hits and three walks. He did not have a strikeout.

The Orioles made the most of the few scoring opportunities they had against Langston. Key hits came from unlikely sources--first baseman David Segui and shortstop Cal Ripken Jr.--and they led, 3-0, going into the bottom of the seventh.

Segui, hardly known as a power hitter, hit a 2-and-0 pitch over the left-field wall for his second home run of the season, giving Baltimore a 1-0 lead in the third.

Ripken, hitting .199, which caused him to change his stance, flared a single into short right field to score Jeff Tackett from third base in the sixth.

Switching to a new, more upright stance didn’t help Ripken in his first two at-bats against Langston, who struck him out twice. And his single wasn’t much of a hit, falling just out of the reach of Easley.

The Orioles added a run in the seventh when Segui scored from first on Gonzales’ throwing error.

Langston held them scoreless, giving way to Gene Nelson after the eighth.