Angels Not Red-Faced This Time

The Angels abandoned their usual chuck-and-duck routine against the Boston Red Sox on Friday at Anaheim Stadium.

It was the first time since, oh, the last time Chuck Finley started a game for them.

Finley didn’t make anyone forget Cy Young in a 3-1 victory over the Red Sox before 19,550, but he was solid, reliable and a winner.

At this point, the Angels won’t quibble with the results.

After all, Finley is about the only dependable starter in their beleaguered rotation. Well-pitched games have been infrequent since Mark Langston underwent knee surgery to repair torn cartilage May 8. Finley has won twice and Shawn Boskie once--and that’s been it for the starters in the last 12 games.

Finley shut out the Red Sox for 6 2/3 innings and extended his string of scoreless innings to 15. He limited Boston to three hits until third baseman Tim Naehring hit a bases-empty homer with two out in the seventh that cut the Angel lead to 3-1.

The Angels gave Finley a three-run lead and he ran with it, kept Boston’s power-hitting tag team of first baseman Mo Vaughn and Jose Canseco fairly quiet and won his second consecutive start. They had back-to-back singles in the fourth inning, but the Red Sox couldn’t score.

The victory ended a nine-game losing streak for the Angels against the Red Sox. It was their first victory over Boston at Anaheim Stadium since last May 28.

Finley, 6-2 with a 3.95 earned-run average, had a complete-game victory with a season-high 10 strikeouts in a 10-1 victory over the Yankees on Sunday.

This time, he went seven strong innings, turning a two-run lead over to reliever Mike James. Finley gave up four hits with six strikeouts and four walks and improved his earned-run average in his past five starts to 0.96.

“If I could pinpoint anything, it would be that I’ve pitched more aggressively the last five starts,” Finley said.

Matters took a different course after James entered, however. First, he plunked Canseco in the fanny, then hit catcher Mike Stanley in the head. Canseco barked at James while trainers from both teams attended to Stanley.

After five minutes, Stanley was taken from the field on a stretcher. He was then sent to Anaheim Memorial Hospital for X-rays. The results were not immediately available.

Troy Percival then replaced James, who buried his face in his hands when he was seated in the dugout.

“There was no intent [to injure] on either pitch,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “Hopefully, [Stanley] is all right. Thank God for helmets. It’s a pretty sobering sound.”

Percival gave up a two-out walk to Troy O’Leary, but struck out pinch hitter Kevin Mitchell to escape from a bases-loaded jam with the lead intact.

In the ninth, Percival walked Vaughn with two outs, then got Canseco to pop up to end the game and earn his 13th save.

The Angels caught a break in this three-game series because they won’t have to face frequent tormentor Roger Clemens. Clemens, 23-7 lifetime against the Angels, recorded a complete-game victory over Seattle on Thursday at Fenway Park.

Instead, the Angels faced Aaron Sele. They weren’t fooled by his off-speed pitches, but catching up to the slow stuff was more difficult than you might think.

The Angels simply couldn’t come up with a knockout blow against Sele. So, they made do with a 1-0 first inning lead thanks to a one-out double by Garret Anderson, an infield hit by Tim Salmon and a throwing error by Naehring that allowed Anderson to score.

Anderson added a two-run single in the fourth for his first runs batted in since May 14 against the Red Sox, another sign of the Angels’ inconsistent play recently.

This was the first home game since the Walt Disney Co. took control of the Angels. There were cheerleaders and a brass band on top of the dugouts between innings. There were also more giveaways and fireworks.