Lorraine Start Finished Early : Yankees Hit Three Homers, Chase Ex-Hart Pitcher in Fifth

Well, it was a start.

Andrew Lorraine has it under his belt once and for all. He can exhale now and go from here.

Yes, it was a start, Lorraine’s first in the major leagues, and if not for those crippling home runs and that pesky Wade Boggs, it might have turned out better for both Lorraine and the Angels.

As it was, the former Hart High and Stanford left-hander lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing the first seven runs in the Angels’ 12-3 loss to the New York Yankees before 34,750 Friday night at Anaheim Stadium.

Bernie Williams led off the game with a home run and Mike Stanley hit a two-run homer in the second inning. Stanley, the Yankees’ designated hitter against left-handed pitching, homered again in the fifth, ending Lorraine’s outing.

“The balls were out over the plate,” said Lorraine, alternating between sips of beer and spoonfuls of frozen yogurt. “All the balls hit out were up.”

Yes, it was a start, and not Lorraine’s last, that from Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann, who said the 21-year-old rookie will get at least “a few” starts, Friday’s outcome notwithstanding.

It was a start, and that’s all it was, although Lorraine probably couldn’t be convinced today, his one-year anniversary of signing with the Angels.

Teammate and fellow left-handed pitcher Chuck Finley might offer some counsel: This game will become a distant memory.

“I can’t really remember my first start,” said Finley, an eight-year veteran. “I think it came when we traded John Candelaria, but I can’t tell you how it turned out.”

Should Lorraine opt to focus on something positive, he’ll recall a pivotal at-bat in the third inning. Two walks helped load the bases with two out, bringing up Don Mattingly, whom Lorraine walked on four pitches the previous inning.

Lorraine struck him out looking with a 2-and-2 pitch on the inside corner.

“That was a plus,” Lorraine said. “After I walked the bases loaded, I had to make good pitches and I did.”

The fourth inning provided another key moment. A two-out double by Williams put runners on second and third and brought up Boggs, who already was two for two.

This at-bat did not go Lorraine’s way, although the ball did.

Boggs hit a bullet through the box into center field to score both runners and give the Yankees a 5-0 lead. Stanley’s second homer came an inning later, and that was it for Lorraine. He struck out four and walked four, allowing eight hits. All seven runs were earned.

“I got ahead of a lot of guys 0-2, 1-2, but then I’d go full count and get hit,” Lorraine said. “I really thought that if I threw as well as I’m capable of, I’d pitch well. But I just didn’t.”

Lorraine gave up five runs--four earned--and nine hits in his three-inning major league debut Sunday, a relief appearance against the Baltimore Orioles. Seventeen hits and 11 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings might indicate Lorraine has been rushed to the big leagues.

After all, he had only six starts in Class A last season after signing. Sure, he was 9-3 with a 3.24 earned-run average at triple-A Vancouver this season before being called up a week ago, but he’s had a grand total of 23 minor league starts.

“Five years ago it would have been a risk to bring him up so fast,” said Angel reliever Bob Patterson. “But the way baseball has changed, just look around. There aren’t enough good pitchers in the game. They aren’t going to give up on you in a hurry.”

The Angels’ 5.31 team ERA (before Friday’s game) is evidence of the absence of quality.

Lachemann insists it is more than wishful thinking that has him giving the ball to Lorraine.

“He’s an intelligent kid, he has a good idea of what’s going on,” he said. “He comes from a good college program, that’s why he’s been able to move up as quickly as he has.”

Lorraine’s biggest believers were in attendance Friday. They would be Mom and Dad, who live in Valencia. To them, it’s only been the blink of an eye since their son was pitching at Hart, where he was The Times’ Valley pitcher of the year in 1990.

“Even the scout who signed him said it would take two or three years to get to the major leagues, but he is so successful at everything he’s touched,” said Marlene Lorraine, who proudly pointed out that her son passed his final classes while attending spring training this year and graduated from Stanford in June.

“I get so emotional and he is so intelligent about it,” she said. “He tells me that winning and losing is not as important as whether he pitched well, whether he hit his spots. It’s almost like he’s the parent.”

Someday soon, maybe Lorraine will be able to offer his mother some perspective about this disappointing night, a night that, after all, was only a start.

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