A Grim Night for Twins

Saturday afternoon, Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann was talking about pitchers with good arms who bounce around the major leagues, getting many chances to live up to their potential.

It turns out he was talking about Jason Grimsley, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Minnesota before settling for a three-hitter and a 5-2 Angel victory.

“Sometimes, it just takes a pitcher a long time to click,” Lachemann said before Grimsley’s performance, “but when a guy like that clicks, you’ve really got something.”

Saturday night, there was a distinct clicking sound in Anaheim Stadium, a noise that probably reverberated all the way back to Philadelphia, Houston and Cleveland.

Grimsley, who had pitched in parts of six major league seasons before becoming an Angel in the Feb. 15 trade that sent Brian Anderson to the Indians, led California to its fifth victory in a row and ninth consecutive at home in front of an announced crowd of 29,624.

The three hits were a career low for Grimsley and the complete game was only the second of his career.

“I thought about the no-hitter after the sixth, that feeling would probably be great,” Grimsley said, “but in the seventh, all I thought was, ‘You’ve got to win this ballgame.’ ”

His bid for a no-hitter ended with one out in the seventh, when former Angel catcher Greg Myers cued a 2-1 delivery down the left-field line for a double. When left fielder Garret Anderson overthrew second, Myers advanced to third and Grimsley’s chance for a shutout ended when the next batter, Dave Hollins, hit a high bouncer to third to score Myers.

Rich Becker doubled in the eighth and Myers hit a two-out homer in the ninth, but “a victory is plenty to savor for any pitcher,” Grimsley said.

For this 28-year-old right-hander a start in the majors is plenty to savor. Grimsley made his first big-league start since 1994 when he replaced Shawn Boskie in the starting rotation April 20. He’s given up five earned runs in three starts and has a 2.05 earned-run average.

“He’s got a great arm and he just needs to let it work,” Lachemann said. “Sometimes, he tries to do too much with his legs and he gets out of whack. But when he slows down his tempo, keeps his delivery under control and uses all of his pitches, he can be very good.”

Pitching coach Chuck Hernandez made a trip to the mound after Grimsley walked Becker and Chuck Knoblauch with one out in the third inning to remind him of those points. And Grimsley retired 12 in a row before Myers’ double in the seventh.

“Two years ago in Cleveland, I had it going pretty good, but then I didn’t get too many chances to pitch and I guess I lost my feel for the mound,” said Grimsley, who was 13-18 with a 4.75 ERA in the majors before this season.

Clearly, he’s in groove now, but then the Angels, who have won 11 of 13 games at home this season, seem to be making all the right moves lately.

Slumping rookie George Arias got a night off and veteran Tim Wallach made his third start of the season at third base. Lachemann said before the game it was as much a case of keeping Wallach active as it was benching Arias, but Wallach didn’t appear very rusty.

His two-out single to left in the second inning scored Chili Davis, who opened the inning with a double when left fielder Marty Cordova misjudged his fly ball and it sailed over his head.

The Angels went ahead, 4-0, in the sixth when Snow and Anderson hit their first homers of the season at Anaheim Stadium, back-to-back shots to right-center. And Davis added a solo shot in the eighth.