Twos Add Up to One Victory for the Angels

Success came in pairs Tuesday night for the Angels, who used two spectacular defensive plays, two home runs, two suicide squeeze bunts and two--yes, two--innings of relief from Troy Percival to defeat the Orioles, 5-2, before a crowd of 43,865 at Camden Yards.

The struggling Angels hadn’t had a save situation in two weeks, so after Baltimore cut the Angels’ lead to 4-2 with a run off Percival in the eighth, that seemingly ancient question--Would Lee Smith pitch the ninth?--arose again.

But with the Angels tacking on an insurance run in the ninth and Percival having thrown only 3 2/3 innings in the previous 18 days, Manager Marcel Lachemann ran his new combination set-up man/closer out for the ninth.

The Orioles threatened when Chris Hoiles singled and Brady Anderson walked with two out, only Percival’s second walk of the season.

But with Smith warming in the bullpen, Percival got Luis Polonia on a tapper back to the mound to end the game 15 minutes before the American League’s 1 a.m. (EDT) curfew.

The Angels, who along with the Orioles endured a 2-hour 16-minute rain delay, won for only the second time in nine games but pulled to within six games of first-place Texas in the American League West.

“It was a great effort,” Lachemann said, “about as well as we’ve executed all season.”

Shawn Boskie gave up only three hits in five innings and struck out five for the win. Mike James threw two scoreless innings of relief and Percival dusted off the cobwebs, throwing 35 pitches to record his 12th save and first since May 3.

“My arm felt fine but my mechanics were off and I wasn’t throwing real hard,” Percival said. “I didn’t have a whole lot of command. There was all kinds of rust in there. I wasn’t really sharp.”

The rest of the Angels were, though. Rex Hudler and Don Slaught opened the game with home runs, Randy Velarde layed down two perfect squeeze bunts and added an RBI single in the ninth. The Angels also saved three runs with outstanding defense.

Center fielder Jim Edmonds leaped high above the center-field wall to rob Cal Ripken of a two-run homer in the second on a play Lachemann said, “was as good as you’re going to see . . . you can make a highlight film from what he’s done this year.”

Added Boskie: “That was humongous. It saved me.”

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina made a diving stop of Mike Devereaux’s two-out grounder with two on in the sixth and, from deep in the hole, threw out Devereaux from his knees to preserve a 3-1 lead.

Hudler, the Angel second baseman, was so excited that he mauled DiSarcina as they came off the field, celebrating like a linebacker after a crunching sack of a quarterback.

But it was Hudler with an ice pack on his left shoulder after the game. “He hurt me,” Hudler said of DiSarcina. “He gave me a power hook and nearly ripped my shoulder out of the socket. That was just a great play.”

Hudler seemed just as excited after his first-inning homer, which he lined into the left-field bleachers off Oriole starter Rick Krivda for his second game-opening homer in as many days and seventh of the season.

Slaught then hit a full-count pitch over the right-field wall for his fourth homer. It was the sixth time this season the Angels have hit back-to-back homers.

What a nice sight this was for Boskie, who, in his last Camden Yards start, watched three Orioles circle the bases on home runs and Ripken circle the stadium, high-fiving fans during his record-breaking, 2,131st consecutive game last Sept. 6.