Smith Is the Answer, Saves Angel Victory : Baseball: Lachemann has the man he wants in the 10th inning to finish off Toronto, 7-6.

Angel pitcher Chuck Finley couldn’t resist the dig as he walked by reliever Mitch Williams in the SkyDome clubhouse Friday night.

“You’re still the most popular guy in Toronto,” Finley cracked.

When Tim Salmon hits a home run in the top of the 10th inning and Lee Smith pitches a scoreless 10th to preserve a 7-6 victory, you can afford to joke about Williams getting perhaps the loudest ovation of the evening when he gave up Lance Parrish’s game-tying single in the eighth.

As Williams walked to the dugout, pulled after facing only one batter, much of the crowd of 36,208 rose to its feet and one fan behind the Angel dugout bowed in reverence to the left-hander, who hadn’t pitched in Toronto since Oct. 23, 1993. That was the evening Joe Carter hit a three-run homer off Williams in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Blue Jays to an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the deciding Game 6 of the World Series.

“I didn’t expect anything different,” Williams said of Friday night’s reception. “But right now I feel great. I gave up a hit, but things ended up working out well. The bottom line is we won.”

For that, Williams can thank Mike Butcher, Salmon and Smith.

Butcher replaced Williams with runners on first and second and one out in the eighth inning and got Devon White to hit into a 1-6-3 double play.

Alex Gonzalez led off the ninth with a double for Toronto, but Butcher struck out Paul Molitor. After intentionally walking Carter, Butcher got John Olerud to hit into a double play.

Salmon snapped the 6-6 tie with a line drive over the center-field fence off Blue Jay reliever Tony Castillo. It was Salmon’s second home run in as many games.

After a game of difficult decisions and unorthodox moves, Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann finally had a no-brainer--it was Lee Smith time.

The 37-year-old right-hander, who spent the off day Thursday visiting his mother in a Louisiana hospital, got Roberto Alomar to ground to second for the first out.

Smith walked Mike Huff on four pitches, but then got pinch hitter Carlos Delgado to pop to second and struck out Parrish to end the game for his first save as an Angel and 435th of his career.

“It was awesome seeing Lee come in there. That’s something we haven’t had in the last few years,” Salmon said. “He has a presence on the mound, and everyone knows what he’s going to do.”

Lachemann, on the other hand, kept the Blue Jays guessing. He brought left-handed Bob Patterson in to face the right-handed Carter in the seventh inning, and Carter singled in a run to cut the Angels’ lead to 6-5.

Lachemann said he went with Patterson because right-hander Russ Springer is not as good at holding runners on first, and he didn’t want Molitor, who was on first, to steal. The gamble paid of--sort of--when center fielder Jim Edmonds nailed Molitor trying to go to third base on Carter’s hit.

When Springer ran into trouble in the eighth, walking Huff and hitting Ed Sprague with a pitch, Lachemann called for Williams. “Springer couldn’t find the plate, and Mitch has been there before,” Lachemann said.

But after Parrish’s single, Williams was there no more. Lachemann went to Butcher.

“If you have a book, you can probably throw it away,” Lachemann said.

* UMPIRES MAY GET TOSSED

Ruling of Ontario Labor Board will prevent use of replacement umpires after Toronto’s current home stand. C8