Leftwich Takes Chance, Wins : Angels: He gives up four hits, strikes out eight in 7 2/3 innings of victory over the Royals.

Phil Leftwich prepared himself for the inevitable a couple of weeks ago. Judging by his manager’s comments, he was going to the minors to make room for Mark Langston. Everything was set but the travel itinerary.

But then he got another chance. Starting pitcher Brian Anderson suffered a broken left thumb the next night, and Leftwich was allowed to stick around.

After Leftwich’s performance Saturday night in the Angels’ 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals, Manager Marcel Lachemann is making sure Leftwich isn’t going anywhere.

Pitching perhaps the finest game of his career before 30,436 at Anaheim Stadium, Leftwich yielded only four hits while striking out a career-high eight--four caught looking--in 7 2/3 innings. Mike Butcher, who got the Angels out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, retired the final four for his first save this season.

The Angels (20-24) now are 3-0 under Lachemann and have moved into a first-place tie with the Texas Rangers in the American League West.

Surprised?

“Well, yeah,” Lachemann said, “I’m kind of surprised I haven’t screwed things up more than I have.”

Certainly, little has gone wrong since Lachemann assumed command on Thursday. He started second baseman Rex Hudler for the first time this season Saturday against a right-handed pitcher, Tom Gordon, and Hudler hit a homer in the third inning. There was a bases-loaded jam in the eighth with switch-hitter Brian McRae at the plate. Lachemann brought in Butcher to make him bat left-handed, and McRae was left staring at a called-third strike.

The man has not made a false move yet.

“Believe me, the players deserve all the credit,” Lachemann said. “In the last 72 hours, we’ve gone through some turmoil and have played pretty well.”

Funny how a few victories also quiet the unrest created by the firing of Buck Rodgers. While there still may be no one calling the Angel offices and congratulating General Manager Bill Bavasi, the uproar is quieting.

“You can say what you want about the guy,” one American League general manager said, “but he’s got guts. For a first-year GM to fire a popular manager, believe me, that takes a lot of courage.

“I guarantee you if those guys come back and win that division, they’ll be calling Bavasi a genius.”

There at least is evidence that can be quite comforting to Bavasi knowing what happened the last time a general manager dared to fire a manger whose team was within two games of first place. The last time a manager had been fired with his team any closer was Pat Corrales in July 18, 1983, with the Philadelphia Phillies tied for first.

The result?

The Phillies won the National League pennant under Paul Owens before losing in the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles.

It’s unknown how far the Angels will go this season, but certainly their chances will be greatly enhanced with performances such as that of Leftwich (2-4). He was so dominant that Gary Gaetti’s second-inning double was the hardest-hit ball off him the entire game. No baserunner even reached third until Brent Mayne’s two-out single advanced Greg Gagne.

Said Lachemann: “The only thing I knew about Leftwich is that he roomed with my son (Bret) in the minors.”

While Leftwich was proving that he belongs in the rotation, designated hitter Chili Davis’ showed the new boss that he can hit sacrifice flies. His statistical oddity finally ended when he drove in Chad Curtis with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, Davis’ first sacrifice fly since Sept. 29, 1992.

The streak spanned 838 plate appearances. Setting the major league record last season with 112 RBIs without the benefit of a sacrifice fly, Davis had gone 198 games and 153 RBIs in between sacrifice flies.

“I’m kind of proud of the record,” Davis said, “but I can’t tell you how many times I tried to get a sacrifice fly last year but it never worked out.”

Lachemann joins Norm Sherry as the only new Angel managers to win their first three games.

“I don’t think you can ever get comfortable,” Lachemann said. “I don’t care if you’ve been managing one day, two weeks, or whatever. Just when you feel you’re comfortable, the game grabs you by the back of your neck.

“I’ve learned in this game you can’t take anything for granted.”