Angels Ride Feats of Dickson, Murray

Pitcher Jason Dickson continued to defy logic, designated hitter Eddie Murray continued to defy time, and the Angels rode both of these improbabilities to an 8-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 30,464.

Dickson made only one mistake in his 6 1/3-inning performance, giving up a three-run home run to Bubba Trammell in the seventh inning, but the rookie right-hander was otherwise untouchable, pitching with a savvy well beyond his 24 years.

And Murray, the 41-year-old who supposedly couldn’t get around on the fastball anymore, turned on a Dan Miceli offering so fast it rocketed into the right-field bleachers for a two-run homer in the seventh, capping the Angels’ 11-hit evening.

The two runs batted in gave Murray 1,905 in his 21-year career, which moved the switch-hitter ahead of Willie Mays and into seventh place on baseball’s all-time RBI list.

“I don’t know if my name should be mentioned in the same sentence with some of these guys, but I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing,” said Murray, who last season joined Mays and Hank Aaron as the only players with 500 homers and 3,000 hits.

“I’ve been playing for some years and still having fun. . . . I feel better now than I did earlier this year. I’ve been seeing the ball well but was just screwing up.”

Tim Salmon also homered, in the fifth, and Dave Hollins added two hits and three RBIs for the Angels, who have won four of their last five to improve to 10-10.

Dickson, who already had two complete-game victories to his credit this season, gave up only four hits and struck out two to improve to 4-0, but his earned-run average jumped from 2.45 to 2.78 despite giving up only three runs. That’s the kind of year Dickson is having.

He had a perfect game through three innings Friday and a two-hit shutout through six before tiring in the seventh, when Trammell’s homer, which followed Bobby Higginson’s single and Melvin Nieves’ walk, trimmed a five-run Angel lead to 5-3.

Angel Manager Terry Collins summoned right-hander Pep Harris, who struck out Brian Johnson and Deivi Cruz to end the inning and then struck out three of four batters in the eighth, lowering his ERA to 1.50. Chuck McElroy retired the side in order in the ninth.

“I got some good defense and they scored some runs for me,” Dickson said. “I caught a few lucky breaks.”

Dickson obviously has mastered the art of the understatement. The Tigers had only three baserunners through six innings, and Dickson seemed much more impressive to Detroit Tiger Manager Buddy Bell.

“He showed good command and changed speeds,” Bell said, “and that can be very effective when you’re throwing strikes.”

The Angels broke open a 1-0 game with a four-run fifth, highlighted by Salmon’s two-run homer to left, which tied Reggie Jackson for sixth place on the Angels’ all-time list with 123.

Gary DiSarcina and Jim Edmonds also singled in the inning, and Hollins, who followed Luis Alicea’s double with an RBI double in the third, smashed a two-run single off Tiger starter Felipe Lira. Hollins has now hit safely in 17 of the 19 games he’s played.

Salmon then followed Jim Leyritz’s fielder’s choice with his homer to left. Since moving from the cleanup spot to the fifth in the order last Saturday, Salmon is 12 for 27 with two homers and eight RBIs, breaking out of a 3-for-36 slump in a huge way.

“Good hitters are going to break out of slumps, and when they do they become dangerous hitters,” Collins said. “Tim Salmon is a dangerous hitter right now.”

The Angels added three insurance runs in the seventh when Leyritz walked with one out, took second on Salmon’s groundout and scored on Garret Anderson’s single to left-center.

Anderson stole second--the Angels’ 18th in 20 games after needing 71 games to steal No. 18 in 1996--and Murray lined a 1-and-2 pitch into the second row of the right-field bleachers, just inside the foul pole, for his second homer of the season and an 8-3 lead.

“I didn’t know if it had enough to get out,” Murray said. “But fortunately I aimed it at that short fence.”