Angels Go From Slugs to Sluggers

The Angels arrived in Anaheim Stadium Friday afternoon with this startling fact staring them in the face: They ranked dead last in the American League in runs with 148.

Unbelievable. A team that returned almost everyone from last year, when the Angels ranked second in the major leagues with 801 runs, had produced fewer runs in this season of football-like scores than the last-place Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics, and the struggling Boston Red Sox.

Well, maybe that old saying true, that you have to hit rock bottom before you can turn things around.

In a 13-8 victory over the Cleveland Indians before 23,522 Friday night, the Angels scored more runs (12) in the first four innings than they scored in the previous four games combined (10).

The Angels were swept by those lowly Royals in a four-game series this week, but they hit a season-high four homers, scored a season-high 13 runs and enjoyed their largest margin of victory against the defending American League champions, the team with the best record, one of the best rotations, and probably the best bullpen, in the league.

“It was one of those full-moon baseball kind of nights, when something seems wrong,” said designated hitter Chili Davis, who had three of the Angels’ 12 hits. “We scored seven runs in two innings off Dennis Martinez--that is not going to happen a lot. The man can pitch, but it was just one of those nights.”

The Indians and Angels exchanged haymakers for 3 1/2 innings, including a 36-minute first inning in which both teams scored four runs, before the Angels landed the knockout blow in the bottom of the fourth, scoring five runs to turn an 8-7 deficit into 12-8 lead.

Jim Edmonds and Garret Anderson each hit two-run homers in the inning, and Davis added an RBI double to help make a winner of Shawn Boskie, who relieved starter Dennis Springer in the second and went six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, striking out five and walking one.

Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann has been reluctant to pull Boskie (4-0) out of the bullpen, and for good reason--the right-hander has a 2.97 earned-run average in six relief appearances, after opening the season with a 6.50 ERA in three starts.

But even after Springer’s disastrous start--the knuckleballer gave up five runs in one-plus inning, three on Jim Thome’s homer, and his ERA ballooned from 10.38 to 16.88--Lachemann said Boskie won’t take Springer’s spot in a rotation that is trying to overcome the loss of injured Mark Langston.

“What else do I have to do, put it on my forehead?” Lachemann said in response to a question about Boskie’s status. “He’s going to stay in the bullpen. What is he, 4-0 out of the pen? That’s not too shabby.”

Neither was the Angels’ response to Cleveland’s four-run first. Tim Salmon’s two-run homer--which ended a streak of 12 consecutive solo homers by the Angels--sliced Cleveland’s lead in half, and RBI singles by Anderson and Don Slaught pulled the Angels even, 4-4.

“When you have Rex Hudler, Mike Aldrete and Tim Wallach on the bench, all jazzed up, pumping the guys up, it was something you like to see,” Lachemann said. “They really got things rolling.”

Asked about the impact of the rowdy reserves, Davis said, “You mean the three Angelettes? They’re always cheering. When they’re playing, the bench is pretty dead. When they’re not playing, you’ll always hear them.”

The Angel offense came through loud and clear, scoring seven runs on seven hits off Martinez, including J.T. Snow’s three-run homer that made it 7-5 in the second.

Manny Ramirez’s bases-empty homer off Boskie made it 7-6 in the third, and the Indians took an 8-7 lead in the fourth on Carlos Baerga’s RBI single and Albert Belle’s RBI double before the Angels rallied in the fourth.

“I think we just relaxed and started swinging the bats,” Lachemann said. “It’s like they said, ‘The hell with it, let’s swing the bats and see what happens.’ Our backs were so far against the wall, they just let it all hang out instead of worrying about this and that.

“There’s a tendency when you’re losing to try to be too cute sometimes. We’re not a finesse club. We’ve got to swing the bats. There’s an old saying, if you swing hard, you might hit the ball.”