Springer Uses Old Approach to Save Angels : Baseball: He shuts down Red Sox with his three-quarters delivery and Boston loses, 8-4.

Wednesday afternoon, Russ Springer was slumped in front of his locker, trying to explain why he had been replaced in the starting rotation by rookie Andrew Lorraine.

Since Springer’s recall from triple-A Vancouver June 9, the Angels had been trying to get him to take advantage of his height (6 feet 4) and pitch “downhill,” as Manager Marcel Lachemann puts it. Springer struggled with the over-the-top delivery, though, and sounded almost relieved to be in the bullpen because he also was permitted to use his old delivery.

“It just wasn’t comfortable,” he said. “I wanted to go back to the way I was pitching in Vancouver.”

Just a few hours later, Springer was back in a comfort zone, pitching with his new, old three-quarters delivery, the one that had helped him to a 7-4 record with a 3.04 earned-run average in the minors. He retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced and picked up the first save as the Angels beat the Red Sox, 8-4, in front of 17,180 at Anaheim Stadium.

“The most impressive thing about (Springer’s performance) was the way he was throwing strikes with all his pitches,” Lachemann said.

Was this a case of Lachemann, the longtime pitching coach, trying to fine tune an already smooth running machine?

“Hm-hmmm,” he said, smiling. “That’s exactly what I told Russ.”

It was the first time this season the Angels had managed to sweep a series and the first time they had won three in a row since mid-June. And inconsistent pitching has been the most glaring factor in their inability to string a few victories together.

The Angels staked Leftwich to a 4-0 lead after two innings, but then the game developed into a see-saw, you-score-then-we’ll-score affair and Leftwich finally succumbed in the sixth inning after Tom Brunansky and Mike Greenwell hit consecutive doubles.

Leftwich left with a 6-4 lead, but given the way baseballs were flying around the park--the two teams already had collected 16 hits, including four doubles and two homers and they were only one out into the sixth inning.

So nobody in the stands was waving a broom.

“It was pretty much up for grabs when Russ came in,” Lachemann said. “And he pretty much set it down.”

Springer, 0-1 in four relief appearances before Wednesday night, struck out four and gave up three singles. He may not have slammed the door, but he managed to push it shut, which is all the Angels can ask for these days.

“As soon as I started warming up with my old arm angle, I already felt much better,” Springer said. “My curveball was breaking better and I was throwing it harder. I was just more relaxed, more confident.

“Then when I got out there, I was able to move the ball in and out and up and down. I was throwing my curve for strikes and my changeup for strikes. I felt like I was back home.”

Home hadn’t been all that sweet for the Angels, but the Angel hitters, at least, are thriving. They picked up 12 more hits Wednesday--for a total of 34 in the last three games--including home runs by Chili Davis and Bo Jackson.

The first two hitters in the Angel order--Chad Curtis and Spike Owen--scored as the Angels roughed up Chris Nabholz for two runs on three hits. And they went ahead, 4-0, in the second inning. Leftwich retired the first six Red Sox before giving up a single and a two-run homer to Damon Berryhill in the third.

Davis, leading off the Angel third, hit a rocket in almost the exact same spot over the right-center field fence as Berryhill. It was Davis’ 20th homer of the season, marking the seventh year in which he has hit at least 20 home runs.

Jackson slammed his 10th homer of the season in the seventh, but by then Springer had things under control.