All’s Well That Ends Well in Angels’ Win

What could have been a frustrating experience turned out to be a familiar one for the Angels on Sunday.

They saw good pitching turn bad and had some so-close, yet-so-far plays. But that all became moot when Jim Edmonds lined a pitch over center fielder Brian Hunter’s head.

Edmonds’ hit scored Luis Alicea for a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers, as 16,409 at Anaheim Stadium saw the Angels win their sixth game on their last at-bat. The team won 20 that way a year ago.

“As long as we keep getting victories, I don’t care how we get them,” Manager Terry Collins said. “But I don’t want to have to win them all on the last at-bat.”

He had little choice Sunday.

The Angels squandered a 3-0 lead when the Tigers hit four home runs, three of which were tantalizingly close to being caught by Garret Anderson.

But, as has been the case in five of their 10 victories, they found a way to win at the end. Alicea led off the ninth inning with a single, was sacrificed by Gary DiSarcina and moved to third on George Arias’ ground out.

“Again, we were in a position where we wanted to be and we can’t get it done,” said Tiger Manager Buddy Bell, whose bullpen has blown five save opportunities.

It wasn’t exactly uncharted territory for Edmonds.

On Wednesday, his ninth-inning home run gave the Angels a 5-4 victory over Toronto. On Sunday, he looked at one side-arm pitch from left-hander Mike Myers, then hit the next pitch to the wall.

“You can’t give up, no matter what the score is,” said Edmonds, who had three runs batted in. “This isn’t like last year, when we always seemed to be down four or five runs. The pitchers are keeping us close. If you don’t go up and battle, you’re just taking money out of your own pocket.”

Through five innings, a last-inning payoff seemed unnecessary. The Angels were getting a much-anticipated performance from pitcher Allen Watson, who had a 7.71 earned-run average entering the game. He breezed through four innings, giving up only Phil Nevin’s single, and had a 3-0 lead.

In the fifth, Watson struck out Travis Fryman and Tony Clark, then found out what can happen in day games at Anaheim Stadium. Bubba Trammmell hit a fly that carried just over the left-field fence, glancing off Garret Anderson’s glove. It was a bad omen.

An inning later, Anderson watched as Brian Hunter barely reached the bullpen to cut the Angel lead to 3-2. After Jody Reed singled, Fryman lifted a fly into the left-field corner, and the ball glanced off Anderson’s glove again.

“Fryman thought he was out,” Watson said. “He started to slow down at first base.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. Those were all fly outs. But I’ve never pitched here in the day. I’ve learned. Next time, everything will be low and away.”

Watson was replaced by Pep Harris. Clark hit his first pitch well into the right-center field seats for a 5-3 lead.

“I can tell that Sunday afternoon games are going to be exciting here,” said Collins, who managed the last three seasons in the dead air of the Houston Astrodome.

It wasn’t just the day game. The Tigers hit seven home runs in the three-game series, which accounted for all 10 of their runs.

“We can hit home runs too,” Collins said.

Not Sunday.

The Angels sent nine men to the plate in the third and scored three runs, two on an Edmonds’ double. But they had to scratch for their last three runs.

Eddie Murray beat out a ground ball with two outs in the sixth inning. He went to second on a passed ball and scored when Alicea rolled a single into right field.

Alicea had three hits.

In the eighth, Dave Hollins--whose job is normally to provide power--singled, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. He scored when Anderson beat a relay throw to first to prevent a double play.

“We stayed aggressive on the bases and we earned some runs,” Collins said. “It wasn’t easy.”

* ANGEL REPORT, C5