One ‘Good Pitch’ to Berroa Beats Finley

Chuck Finley watched a bit of video, couldn’t believe what he saw, then slumped in a chair to ponder his performance Tuesday night.

He couldn’t be pleased, couldn’t be entirely disappointed, but certainly couldn’t count himself a winner. Maybe simple, dumb luck worked against him.

The Oakland Athletics defeated Finley quietly, except for the first pitch he threw to Geronimo Berroa in the pivotal fourth inning. Berroa crushed it, sending the ball sailing over the 370-foot sign on the right-field fence for a two-run homer, the only runs in Oakland’s 2-0 victory at Anaheim Stadium.

“It was a good pitch,” Finley said. “I looked at it on the TV and I couldn’t have thrown a better pitch. He went out and got it. He just guessed right. That’s the only thing I can think of.

“I’m sitting here trying to figure out how I messed up.”

Other than Berroa’s big swing, it was tough to find fault with Finley’s start. He lasted seven innings, giving up four hits with five strikeouts and five walks.

A little offensive support would have been nice. But on this night, the A’s kept the Angel hitters nearly silent. They managed only three hits off Oakland starter Dave Stewart and none off four relievers, including Dennis Eckersley, who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to preserve the victory and earn his first save.

Finley, 0-2 with a 4.09 earned-run average, wouldn’t blame the Angel batters for the loss, his second in a row. He gave credit to Stewart for pitching as a veteran should--intelligently, efficiently. But he kept coming back to that one pitch.

“I know if you pitch long enough things will even out,” said Finley, “unless you’re a terrible poker player.”

He pointed to the tremendous catch left fielder Rickey Henderson made on J.T. Snow’s line drive in the seventh inning as another turning point in Tuesday’s game.

The ball appeared to be headed over the fence, but Henderson jumped, reached over the top of the wall and robbed Snow of a leadoff home run.

“I thought that might get us over the hump, but Rickey brought that ball back,” Finley said.

Of course, this was Oakland and no team gives Finley as much trouble as the A’s. Tuesday’s loss dropped his career record to 4-15 against Oakland, a mark that baffles Finley.

“I don’t know what it is,” Finley said. “They went through that span in the late ‘80s where they beat us regularly, but I don’t think there’s any residual effect there.”

Oakland Manager Tony La Russa chalked it up to “freak luck.”

“I hope it doesn’t change,” La Russa said. “I never feel very comfortable against him.”