Flener Frustrates Batters Slowly

It would have been easier if Toronto Blue Jay left-hander Huck Flener was blowing 95 mph fastballs by the Angels instead of baffling them with off-speed pitches.

“When a guy rears back, throws hard and shoves it down your throat, you have a tendency to stay quiet,” Angel first baseman J.T. Snow said. “But it makes it more frustrating when a guy doesn’t throw hard and changes speeds. You want to crush the ball, and you end up trying too hard.”

Flener, a former Cal State Fullerton standout, kept the Angels guessing all afternoon, giving up just one run on eight hits and striking out six in 7 2/3 innings of Toronto’s 7-1 victory. Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann was so impressed, he said Flener reminded him a bit of Atlanta left-hander Tom Glavine.

“He gives you a little Glavine look,” Lachemann said. “He stays outside and throws the changeup on any count. I know guys were screaming and yelling at him because he doesn’t throw hard, but he makes his pitches.”

As mad as Jim Edmonds was about a high-and-tight, eighth-inning Flener fastball that knocked him down, he admitted Flener (2-0) gave the Angels fits.

“We’ve been losing to that type of pitcher all year,” Edmonds said. “I don’t know why anyone is surprised. He keeps you off balance. I’ve said it 100 times, that’s what pitching is all about. It’s frustrating when a guy throws 82 mph, but that’s the way it goes.”

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Jim Abbott’s winning percentage of .076 (1-14) is lower than the worst mark for a starter in Angel history, Rick Clark’s .083 (1-11) in 1968. It’s also the lowest in the major league’s since Anthony Young went 1-16 (.059) for the New York Mets in 1983. The lowest percentage by a pitcher with at least one win: Jack Nabors of the Philadelphia Athletics at .048 (1-20) in 1916. . . . A 1-5 road trip against the Blue Jays and lowly Detroit Tigers ends, quite inappropriately, today in Cooperstown, N.Y., where the Angels will play the Montreal Expos in the Hall of Fame game. Shortstop Dick Schofield, on the disabled list because of personal reasons since April 20, and minor league players Pep Harris (pitcher), Matt Beaumont (pitcher) and Keith Luuloa (infielder) will join the Angels for the 11 a.m. exhibition game, which will be broadcast by KMPC. Buck O’Neill, a former Negro League star and Hall of Fame inductee, will give the Angels a tour before the game, and utility player Rex Hudler will be miked during the tour by “This Week in Baseball” for an upcoming show.