DiSarcina Lifts Angels to Victory

It was a virtual piece de no resistance for eight innings, the Angels hardly putting up a fight against the Milwaukee Brewers, but then came a ninth inning that turned a dull, dreary Thursday evening into a celebration for what remained of a crowd of 16,841 in Anaheim Stadium.

Gary DiSarcina, moved to the No. 2 spot last week in an effort to spark a sagging offense, drilled a two-out Graeme Lloyd pitch into the left-field bleachers for a three-run home run to lift the Angels to a dramatic, 5-4 victory.

“I’ve never done that before, not even in Little League,” DiSarcina said after the Angels won in their last at-bat for the 17th time this season.

“It will probably be the last time, too. You don’t get to do that too often. As I rounded second I glanced at our dugout and saw smiles on the guys’ faces. It was exhilarating.”

Only three Angel runners had reached second base when J.T. Snow, after fouling off four full-count pitches, led off the ninth inning with his 12th homer of the season, cutting a 4-1 deficit to 4-2.

“That,” DiSarcina said, “put a little life into us.”

After Jack Howell’s infield popup, Rex Hudler singled to center, and Milwaukee Manager Phil Garner replaced reliever Ricky Bones with Lloyd, a left-hander who was summoned to face pinch-hitter Garret Anderson.

But Anderson, who didn’t start in the outfield for the third time in the past seven games, singled to right, putting runners on first and second.

Brewer second baseman Fernando Vina and Lloyd teamed on Randy Velarde’s slow roller to produce a defensive gem for the second out, Vina flipping the ball with his glove hand to Lloyd, who made a bare-hand grab and beat Velarde to the bag.

But DiSarcina lined an 0-1 slider over the left-field wall for his third homer of the season, giving reliever Mike Holtz, who got Vina to hit into a ninth-inning double play, his first major league victory.

“If that doesn’t excite you, you might as well go home,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “That’s why you play 27 outs. One thing about our game is you can’t stall for time. You keep grinding it out, and sometimes good things happen.”

The victory kept the Angels nine games behind the Texas Rangers in a disappointing season that has been marked by their continual search for that elusive winning formula.

“I don’t think one swing can turn around a season, but it would be nice if this was some kind of spark,” DiSarcina said. “We have to win a majority of the games we have left.”

They seemed destined for another loss Thursday night against a starter--Tim VanEgmond--who entered with an 0-2 career record and 36.00 earned-run average in Anaheim Stadium and a reliever--Bones--who entered with a 6-11 record and 5.88 ERA this season.

It was such an uninspired effort that many fans had departed by the eighth inning. The Fans seemed so disgusted, in fact, that they booed the seventh-inning stretch singer right off the Brewer dugout.

Almost wasted was another decent starting pitching performance as Jason Grimsley gave up just four hits--but four runs--in eight innings.

Grimsley walked five and his control problems cost him in the Brewers’ three-run third inning, but the right-hander gave up just one hit from the fourth through seventh innings before departing after Matt Mieske’s leadoff single in the ninth.

Chuck McElroy got David Hulse to ground out, but Mike James came on to give up an RBI double to pinch-hitter Kevin Seitzer, which gave the Brewers an important insurance run and a 4-1 lead.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the first when DiSarcina doubled off the wall in left and scored on Jim Edmonds’ single to right. The Brewers took advantage of Grimsley’s wildness for a three-run counter-punch in the third, which began with No. 8 hitter Hulse reaching on a strikeout pitch that bounced past catcher Jorge Fabregas.

Grimsley walked No. 9 batter Jesse Levis, putting runners on first and second, and following Pat Listach’s strikeout, Vina doubled into the right- field corner for one run. But Jeff Cirillo snapped the 1-1 tie with a two-run single to left-center.