Harkey Gets the Angels Out of Rut

Some players need the security of knowing they’ll be in the lineup every day or on the mound every fifth day. Then there’s Mike Harkey, the Angel pitcher who seems to thrive on the edge.

“I enjoy the challenge of not knowing whether I’m going to get another start,” Harkey said, “because I always pitch like it’s going to be my last one.”

The way Harkey is throwing, he will make many more Angel starts. The recent waiver-wire acquisition went the distance on a six-hitter, walking one and striking out none, to lead the Angels to a 9-2 victory over the Texas Rangers in front of an announced crowd of 21,057 Monday at Anaheim Stadium.

It was Harkey’s first complete game in almost two years, the Angels’ sixth complete game of the season, and it helped the Angels snap out of a four-game mini-funk, during which they had committed 10 errors and lost three games.

The Angels, who salvaged a split of the four-game series with Texas, made one error Monday. Shortstop Rod Correia made an off-balance throw after fielding Ivan Rodriguez’s chopper behind the second-base bag, and the ball bounced past first baseman J.T. Snow in the fourth inning.

But they also made six outstanding defensive plays--two by Correia and another by center fielder Jim Edmonds, who fielded Luis Ortiz’s fly ball to left-center field in the second, made a 360-degree turn and gunned down Rusty Greer at third for the final out before Mickey Tettleton could cross the plate.

The Angels smashed four home runs, including a tone-setting, three-run shot in the first inning by Snow, who was mired in a 3-for-29 slump. Tony Phillips was 4 for 30 before his two-run homer in the fourth, Tim Salmon added a bases-empty blast in the fourth, his 24th of the season and Jim Edmonds’ solo shot in the seventh was his 23rd of the year.

But pitching and defense were the dominant themes of the day.

“We’ve been kind of sloppy lately, so it was important to play a good defensive game,” Snow said. “It’s great playing behind Harkey because he throws a lot of strikes and works fast. He definitely keeps you on your toes.”

Harkey no longer relies on the 90-m.p.h. fastball he had at Cal State Fullerton from 1985 to 1987 and with the Chicago Cubs early in his career, but the 28-year-old right-hander changed speeds on all of his pitches Monday, kept the ball down in the strike zone and worked ahead of batters all afternoon.

The Angels picked him up from Oakland on July 19 as an emergency starter to fill in for the injured Shawn Boskie and Mike Bielecki, but after four Angel starts--three victories and a no-decision--Harkey is looking more and more like a permanent solution.

“You’re not going to lose your job when you pitch like that,” Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “He’s given us a solid outing each time out, and to pitch a complete game on top of that today was a big boost.”

The media crowd around Harkey’s locker Monday was so huge that Boskie, Harkey’s next-door neighbor in the Angel clubhouse, could barely get to his cubicle.

How symbolic. Boskie will make the first of three scheduled rehabilitative starts Thursday at Class-A Lake Elsinore, but it seems Harkey is elbowing him right out of a potential spot in the rotation.

“I just hope I have the opportunity to remain here the rest of the year and maybe next year,” said Harkey, who played at Pomona Ganesha High School and lives in Chino. “It’s been tough for me because I’ve been bouncing around a lot lately.”

Harkey, a first-round pick in 1987, became a free agent after four injury filled seasons (1990-93) with the Cubs and turned down a $1-million offer from the Angels to sign with Colorado in 1994.

But he went 1-6 with a 5.79 earned-run average for the Rockies, was released after the season and signed a minor league contract this spring with Oakland, where he went 4-6 with a 6.27 ERA before being released July 12.

Harkey has been on the disabled list five times since 1990, but he’s healthy now, living at home and contributing to a team that has an 11-game lead in the American League West.

“It’s a blessing being able to wake up in the morning in your own bed and drive 25 minutes to work,” Harkey said. “I figured I’d get a nine-to-five job near my house when my career was over. Now I’m doing it during my career for a few extra bucks.”