Angels Find Thirteen Unlucky

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD

July 6, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND —

Thirteen runs, nine hits, five walks, one grand slam, one hit by a pitch, one stolen base and 18 batters.

Those were not the Oakland Athletics’ totals for Friday’s game.

That was just the first inning.

No joke. The Angels really did give up 13 runs in the first inning en route to a 16-8 loss at the Oakland Coliseum.

Mercy rule, anyone?

Since they weren’t playing rec league softball and presumably there was more at stake than who buys the beer and pizza after the game, the Angels and A’s went ahead and played the final eight innings.

Heck, by the end of three innings, the A’s lead was down to 15-7 and since anything seemed possible Friday, there were good reasons for the sellout crowd of 36,129 to stick around.

Let’s see, there were dot races on the video replay boards, the wave, overweight security guards dancing to the Village People’s “YMCA” and the A’s catching the Angels for third place in the American League West.

Technically, they are tied for last, too, which is appropriate since the Angels have played like a last-place club for the past two weeks. Friday’s loss was their 11th in 14 games. They have given up 22 home runs in the past nine games.

Angel pitchers have turned in some miserable performances over the course of the season’s first 85 games. But there was simply no topping Friday’s first inning.

Starter Ryan Hancock and relievers Brad Pennington and Jim Abbott seemed to be throwing batting practice.

“No, I haven’t seen anything like that before and I don’t think anyone else here has either,” Abbott said. “It was a crazy inning. I don’t want to say it’s a fluke, but it was a crazy inning. These things only happen but once a century.”

Oakland designated hitter Matt Stairs, recalled from triple-A Edmonton Thursday, tied a major league record with six RBIs in an inning, highlighting the A’s 100-year inning.

His first career grand slam and a two-run single were the highlights that enabled Oakland to tie the franchise record. The Philadelphia A’s scored 13 runs in the eighth inning on June 15, 1925.

And to think, Stairs played Friday only because Geronimo Berroa was given permission by the A’s to be in New York with his wife, who is expecting the couple’s second child.

The 16 runs scored by both teams broke the modern major league record for runs in the first inning.

“It was no fun to go through. We’re not feeling good about it,” Abbott said.

Hancock, from nearby Santa Clara, left after giving up a single to Jose Herrera . . . the second for the A’s leadoff hitter in the inning. It was Hancock’s first dud after winning his first two major league starts.

Pennington promptly walked all three batters he faced. Two of the walks came with the bases loaded.

Abbott managed to get the inning’s final out, but not until he gave up a run-scoring double, a run-scoring single, another run-scoring double and an infield single.

In the end, Abbott proved to be the most effective of the three. He stuck around for five innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits with six walks.

For once the postgame questions he faced did not concern what ailed him specifically but what’s wrong with the club.

He is certain Friday was merely an aberration, that the first inning should go into the stuff-happens file and be forgotten.

“It’s in no way indicative of this ballclub,” said Abbott, whose earned-run average actually dropped from 7.73 to 7.60. “I don’t want to write any season summaries yet. Things turn around quickly. We saw that last year.

“I still have faith in this team. We have to work to fulfill our expectations. We’re not playing as well as we can--that’s the biggest thing we have to turn around.”

Abbott admitted the emotional wounds from such a pounding could be troubling, particularly after an 8-7 loss in 11 innings Thursday.

“If we slouch our heads, if we say that was the worst inning in history, that’s just another setback,” he said. “If you keeping looking back, yes, it is tough to bounce back. But tomorrow is a new day. Yesterday’s gone.

“Get over it.”

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Thirteen in a Hurry

A look at Oakland’s 13-run first inning:

* Jose Herrera singled and stole second.

* Raphael Bournigal singled, Herrera to third.

* Jason Giambi hit by pitch, bases loaded.

* Mark McGwire struck out.

* Scott Brosius walked, Herrera scored, bases still loaded.

* Matt Stairs hit a grand slam.

* George Williams walked.

* Ernie Young struck out.