Fleming No Longer Has Angels in Bondage

It’s one thing if Randy Johnson, David Cone or Mike Mussina has a vice grip on your lineup, but Dave Fleming? The soft-serve Seattle Mariner left-hander who went 7-11 in 1994, and whose Slurpee-like off-speed pitches practically melt by the time they get to the plate?

Fleming’s dominance of the Angels--he was 5-0 with a 2.38 earned-run average in five career Anaheim Stadium starts going into Friday night’s game--is difficult to explain.

But whatever hex he had at the Big A vanished with one giant swing of Chili Davis’ bat. Davis hit a three-run home run to right-center field to key a six-run fifth inning as the Angels whipped the Mariners, 10-0, before an announced crowd of 30,230.

“I don’t know why he did so well against us in the past,” Davis said. “But he made a couple of mistakes and we got to him. He didn’t have the control he used to have.”

Davis had three hits, J.T. Snow added a two-run double in the fifth and a sacrifice fly in the seventh, the Angel infield turned four double plays, and five Angel pitchers combined to shut out what had been one of the American League’s hottest teams.

Seattle came to Anaheim with the league’s best record (6-1), having hit .314 as a team and outscored its previous seven opponents by a 48-18 margin, but the Angels pulled to within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Mariners with the victory.

About the only downer for the Angels was an injury to starting pitcher Brian Anderson, who cruised through the first four innings, giving up four hits, but had to leave in the fifth after delivering an 0-2 pitch to Mike Blowers.

The way Manager Marcel Lachemann and trainer Rick Smith popped out of the dugout as the pitch was crossing the plate, it appeared the injury might be serious.

But Anderson’s injury was diagnosed as a strained left bicep--which isn’t nearly as serious as a shoulder or elbow injury--and the 23-year-old left-hander, who sat out a month of the 1994 season because of a broken thumb, will be re- evaluated in the next few days.

“It’s not very serious at all,” Lachemann said. “He may not even miss a start.”

Lachemann replaced Anderson with Bob Patterson, who gave up three singles to load the bases. But Tony Phillips made a running catch of Joey Cora’s fly down the left-field line to end the threat.

Patterson pitched a scoreless sixth, Troy Percival struck out the side in the seventh, Mike Butcher retired the side in the eighth and Mitch Williams struck out two of three batters--OK, he walked a guy and hit another--in the ninth but still preserved the shutout.

Seattle began the game as the only American League team not to give up an unearned run in 1995, but the Mariners could no longer make that claim after the first inning.

Shortstop Felix Fermin back-handed Damion Easley’s grounder to the hole, but his throw to first was low and skipped past Tino Martinez for a two-base error.

Easley advanced to third on Jim Edmonds’ grounder to short and scored on Davis’ two-out single to left, which marked the designated hitter’s 600th American League RBI.

The Angels extended the lead to 2-0 when Phillips led off the third with a double to left, moved up on Easley’s infield out and scored on Edmonds’ fly ball to left, the Angels’ first sacrifice fly of the season.

Gary DiSarcina started the big fifth inning with a double, Phillips walked, and Edmonds lined an RBI single to right before Davis blew the game open with his three-run blast.

Seattle had a hit against Anderson in each of the first four innings, but the Angel defense kept him out of trouble, turning double plays in the first, second and fourth innings.

Easley later turned the prettiest double play in the sixth, fielding Edgar Martinez’s shot to the second-base hole and spinning around to make his throw to second, where shortstop DiSarcina forced Ken Griffey and made the relay throw to first.

“Those double plays were very big,” Lachemann said. “They were all very difficult plays, because guys were on top of them. They really helped turn the game around.

“Those two kids are playing some kind of defense up the middle.”