Angels Enjoy Game of 8-Ball

Angel Manager Terry Collins’ fingernails, nibbled to the nubbins the previous two nights, got a much-needed game off Thursday night.

So did the bulk of the beleaguered Angel bullpen, which blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning Tuesday and almost let a four-run lead slip away in the ninth Wednesday.

There was no such suspense--or hand-wringing or nervous fidgeting--Thursday night, as the Angels used an eight-run seventh inning, their biggest outburst of the season, to rip the Oakland A’s, 12-2, in front of 20,075 in Edison Field.

“That was a nice outpouring of offense, something we’ve really needed,” Collins said after the Angels completed a three-game sweep of the A’s. “Hopefully that will get us going.”

Center fielder Jim Edmonds’ led the Angels’ 14-hit assault with two home runs, a single, a double and a career-high five runs batted in. Darin Erstad added a double, two singles and two runs, and Garret Anderson had a homer and a sacrifice fly.

Jason Dickson, demoted from the rotation to the bullpen this week, threw four innings of two-hit, scoreless relief to gain the victory, and Jack McDowell, sidelined since April 27 because of an inflamed elbow, gave up two runs on six hits in his five-inning return.

But as is often the case with the Angels this season, the good news was tempered with a bit of the bad. McDowell pitched with pain for much of the evening, and Collins nearly pulled the right-hander in the fourth.

With an off day scheduled for Tuesday, Collins said he will skip McDowell in the rotation to give him 10 days’ rest before his next start.

“Jack is sore,” Collins said. “When I went out to talk to him, he said he couldn’t finish his pitches. He said he’d pitch through it, and he did what you expect warriors to do, he reached down and found a little extra.”

McDowell, who sat out most of the 1997 season because of elbow surgery, didn’t seem too disappointed with Collins’ decision.

“We did a lot of work to get to this point, so we’ll just have to see how it responds,” he said. “I just wanted to give the team a chance to win.”

He did that, and more, giving the Angels not only a chance to win but setting an example for his teammates.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to Jack,” said Dickson, who walked none and struck out two to improve to 3-4. “He’s not 100%, but he just went out there on guts. Over the course of the season, you wish you had 25 guys like that.”

McDowell gave up a bases-empty home run to Ben Grieve in the first inning and an RBI single to Grieve in the fifth. The Angels countered with Edmonds’ two-run homer in the first and took a 3-2 lead on Edmonds’ homer in the sixth, his second homer of the night and 100th of his career.

The Angels then blew the game open in the seventh. Anderson, who has been struggling to regain his batting stroke, led off against Oakland starter Blake Stein with a homer to right-center, only his second homer and 15th RBI of the season, for a 4-2 lead.

Matt Walbeck walked, and Justin Baughman beat out a sacrifice bunt. The A’s positioned their infield for another bunt from Gary DiSarcina, but the No. 9 hitter, who entered with a .294 average, ripped Stein’s first pitch into the gap in right-center for a two-run double and a 6-2 lead.

Oakland left-hander Buddy Groom replaced Stein and gave up an infield single to Erstad and an RBI single to Edmonds. Tim Salmon greeted reliever T.J. Mathews with an RBI single, Cecil Fielder hit a sacrifice fly, Dave Hollins laced an RBI triple into the right-field corner, and Anderson capped the inning with a sacrifice fly.