Hancock Pens Signature Victory

Ryan Hancock refused to try to figure this one out. He and the Angels defeated Oakland, 1-0, Sunday at Anaheim Stadium, and that’s all that mattered.

Closer Troy Percival knew the Angels were desperate for a victory. How and why it happened also made little difference.

“What a stinking game,” designated hitter Chili Davis said in mock frustration. “The first three games were homer, homer, homer, then we win a 1-0 game.”

The Angels lost to the Athletics, 18-2, on Thursday, 6-3, on Friday and, 11-9, on Saturday. Manager Marcel Lachemann held a 35-minute team meeting Saturday to iron out issues of consistency and confidence, both lacking during a four-game losing streak.

When the Angels arrived in the clubhouse Sunday, someone had drawn a happy face on the greaseboard outside Lachemann’s office. Lachemann then handed the ball to Hancock, a rookie making his second start and sixth appearance.

Hancock didn’t get much offensive help, but was grateful for all the Angels could manage against Oakland rookie John Wasdin, his opponent in a triple-A Pacific Coast League game May 14 at Vancouver.

Randy Velarde raced home from second base on a wild pitch on a swinging strike three to Tim Salmon in the first inning to score the game’s only run.

Pervical got the final two outs in the eighth inning, striking out Ernie Young to wriggle out of a bases-loaded jam, and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 22nd save.

Unflappable as he was unhittable, Hancock took the one-run lead and ran with it in a standout seven-inning performance. Hancock, who has taken Jim Abbott’s spot in the rotation, looked sharper than in his first start Monday at Chicago.

“He was a regular Van Gogh out there,” catcher Pat Borders said. “He didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes. When I asked him to throw it in the dirt, he put it right in there.

“He doesn’t appear to be shaken very easily. He doesn’t get rattled. He didn’t choke the ball like some young pitchers. He had poise under pressure.”

Hancock would have been forgiven for wanting to run and hide against the A’s, who Saturday tied a major league record by hitting 18 home runs in four games and are on pace to break the 1961 Yankee single-season homer record.

If he was jittery, it didn’t show.

He scattered four singles, walked three and struck out six in improving to 4-0 with a 1.25 earned-run average.

His unexpected performance boggled the minds of all concerned Sunday. Even Hancock admitted he shouldn’t analyze the outcome, particularly not after only two starts in the majors.

“Sometimes it’s easier to pitch in these types of games. You get into a rhythm easier,” Hancock said.

“I would have liked to have had a cushion. I pitched against John in Vancouver and it was the same type of game, a one-run game. You could argue that he pitched better than me today.”

Wasdin (5-2) gave up only four hits with four strikeouts and two walks in his first career complete game. The first-inning wild pitch was about the only difference between the two rookies.

“You look at him and you don’t think he’s got [anything],” Davis said of Hancock. “I look at him and I see he’s got an idea out there. He’s effectively wild when he wants to be, then, ping, he hits the corners.

“It’s nice to have a young kid step up. We need it, especially a right-hander to go with all those left-handers.”