Gonzales Is Only Winner : Baseball: Angel third baseman collects from teammates after perfect eighth inning of relief in 11-4 loss to Tigers. Fielder finishes with 7 RBIs.

Third baseman Rene Gonzales was mobbed by reporters Sunday in the Angels’ clubhouse. The baseball keepsake was lying on the top shelf of his locker, and a congratulatory message was awaiting from a former teammate.

When you pitch a 1-2-3 inning for the Angels’ bullpen these days, there’s cause for celebration.

Gonzales, who last pitched in American Legion ball as a teen-ager, provided the visitors’ only source of levity as Cecil Fielder had seven runs batted in during the Detroit Tigers’ 11-4 rout of the Angels before 30,732 at Tiger Stadium.

On a day when Angel Manager Buck Rodgers was left bemoaning the state of his pitching staff--nearly repeating of Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda’s infamous tantrum when asked about Dave Kingman in 1978--Gonzales obliged with much-needed comic relief.

Trailing, 11-1, in the seventh inning and exasperated by the day’s events, Rodgers asked for volunteers to pitch the eighth inning. Gonzales raised his hand first and soon found himself warming up in the bullpen.

Gonzales returned to the bench, watched his teammates score three runs and was told that if the score got closer, reliever Steve Frey would go in.

Gonzales was paying no attention. He was busily making bets with everyone on the bench, wagering that he would not allow a hit or walk the entire inning. The Angels’ pitching staff hadn’t managed to do that all day, so it seemed a longshot.

Making sure his last bet was down, Gonzales strolled to the mound, took his warm-up pitches and started laughing when he saw former teammate Mickey Tettleton waiting at the plate.

“We were all laughing in the infield, too,” second baseman Damion Easley said. “Of course, we were all playing on the (outfield) grass, too, because no one wanted to get killed.”

When Gonzales finished, he was slapped on the back by a security guard, grabbed the ball out of first baseman J.T. Snow’s hands for a memento and collected his money.

The play-by-play: Tettleton fouled to third base. Kirk Gibson grounded to first base. Chad Krueter grounded to second.

“What can I say?” Rodgers said. “He was our best pitcher of the day.”

Said center fielder Chad Curtis, gesturing to the group of reporters: “Tell them what you told me: You should be moved into the rotation.”

Tettleton, who played with Gonzales at Baltimore, even left a message: “The slider’s a little flat. Otherwise, you have great stuff, Mickey.”

Gonzales, the first Angel position player to take the mound since Donnie Hill on July 8, 1990, accomplished what no other Angel pitcher could on this day. He was left unscathed in midst of the Tigers’ punishment: 13 hits, six walks and 11 earned runs.

“It was the first time and hopefully the last,” Rodgers said, “that I ever see him pitch.”

Gonzales had the advantage of being spared the task of facing Tiger first baseman Fielder. He single-handedly made life miserable for the Angel staff, hitting two upper-deck home runs for a total of 835 feet and driving in a career-high seven runs.

Fielder’s performance was so overwhelming that when a radio reporter asked Rodgers to comment, Rodgers stared at him as if he were insane.

He spewed a few choice profanities, and said loudly: “Do want me to do a Tommy Lasorda thing? . . . No, I don’t want to comment on that. . . . You have a lot of guts to ask about that. You ever hear about Tommy Lasorda and Dave Kingman?”

End of interview.

Rodgers returned a few minutes later to his office, saying he needed to calm himself. He hated using a position player in that situation, he said, but who knows, maybe it will inspire his pitching staff.

“It remains to be seen how the bullpen will react,” Rodgers said, “but maybe it will light a fire under our starters. . . . I had to get something positive out of this (butt-) kicking.”

The Angels’ pitching staff has yielded a 6.64 earned-run average in the last seven games, surrendering 13 home runs, and Rodgers has more worries than merely starter John Farrell. Farrell yielded eight hits, five earned runs and a 445-foot homer to Fielder in 2 1/3 innings and is 2-7 with a 6.41 ERA. He has not won in his last six starts.

Could this perhaps enhance Gonzales’ career as a reliever?

“If that happens,” Rodgers said, “it might be my career.”