No-Names Show Angels No Mercy

Chuck Finley’s 5-17 career record against the Oakland Athletics seems like an aberration until you realize that many of those losses came against one of baseball’s most potent teams, an A’s club that played in three consecutive World Series from 1988-90.

But getting knocked around by Rickey Henderson, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in their prime is one thing--losing to the likes of Bobby Chouinard, Damon Mashore and Rafael Bournigal, who weren’t even on the A’s 40-man roster at the beginning of the 1996 season, is an entirely different story.

But that was the plot Friday night in Anaheim Stadium, where the Angels lost, 6-3, to the last-place A’s, who were led by a pitcher whose name the Angels probably couldn’t pronounce and a handful of players they’ve probably never heard of.

A crowd of 32,380 saw Chouinard, a rookie right-hander, give up just three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings for his second career victory.

Mashore, playing in only his 15th big league game, hit his first career home run to ignite a five-run sixth inning, and Bournigal, a non-roster invitee to spring training, had two of Oakland’s eight hits, including a sixth-inning double.

Finley may have signed a three-year, $12-million contract in the off-season, but he hardly distinguished himself among Oakland’s no-names, giving up six runs on seven hits in six innings, his record falling to 9-6 and earned-run average jumping to 4.73.

So, the Angels, who have lost six of their last eight, have begun their key 22-game stretch against American League West teams with two losses, including Thursday night’s 18-2 thrashing at the hands of the Athletics.

“For some reason or another, we’re not at a level where we need to be, especially in the stretch we’re in right now, playing against teams in our division,” Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t feel the intensity out there that there should be right now.”

The Angels were fine for the first five innings Friday night. Catcher Don Slaught had singled and scored on Rex Hudler’s fielder’s choice in the third inning and singled and scored on Gary DiSarcina’s groundout in the fifth to give the Angels a 2-1 lead.

But Finley, who struck out six in the first four innings and needed 30 pitches to retire the A’s in the first, got shelled in the sixth, giving up five runs on five hits as Oakland took a 6-2 lead.

But Mashore’s homer to right-center on a 3-1 pitch made it 2-2, and Bournigal followed with a double to left-center. Scott Brosius singled to center for another run, and McGwire singled to right, with Brosius taking third. Brosius then scored on Finley’s wild pitch to push the A’s ahead, 4-2.

It appeared Finley would work out of the jam when he struck out Geronimo Berroa and got Terry Steinbach on an infield pop, but Jason Giambi, a former Long Beach State standout, drilled a two-run homer to right-center to give Oakland a 6-2 lead.

“I made some bad pitches, and the ball didn’t stay in the yard,” Finley said. “Solo home runs aren’t going to kill you, but you give up a two-out, two-run home run to a left-hander [Giambi], that’s what did me in right there. I can’t be doing that.”

Of Giambi’s last seven hits, six have been home runs, and Friday night’s blast was the A’s third homer of the game and 15th homer in the past three games. Ernie Young had homered to center in the fifth for Oakland’s first run.

Tim Salmon homered with the bases empty in the bottom of the sixth, his 20th of the season and 13th this month, to trim the deficit to 6-3, and Chouinard walked Chili Davis.

But Jim Corsi relieved Chouinard and threw 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief, and Mike Mohler and Billy Taylor each added 2/3 inning of hitless relief to secure the A’s victory.

There was one bright spot for the Angels, though. Jim Abbott, making his first relief appearance and trying to rebound from his 1-11 start and demotion to the bullpen, retired three of the four batters he faced for a scoreless ninth.