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 their biggest one-inning 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 amassed a season-high eight runs and seven hits in the seventh inning to sweep three games from 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, 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, the good news was tempered with a bit of the bad. McDowell pitched with pain, and Collins nearly pulled him in the fourth. With an off day scheduled Tuesday, McDowell’s usual turn in the rotation, Collins said he will skip McDowell 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 gave up a homer to Ben Grieve in the first and pitched out of a jam in the second, striking out Rickey Henderson and Jason McDonald with runners on second and third to end the inning.

He retired the side in order in the third, but Collins saw something he didn’t like in the fourth, when McDowell fell behind Mike Blowers, 3-1, to start the inning. His visit to the mound was accompanied by a call to the bullpen, instructing Dickson to warm up.

“I thought about pulling him, but you have to have respect for the Jack McDowells of the game, the guys who have put the time in and paid the price and fought through similar situations when they don’t feel well,” Collins said. “He said he could battle through it, so I left him in.”

McDowell didn’t disappoint. He retired the side in order before giving up a run in the fifth. Afterward, he couldn’t argue with Collins’ decision to skip his next start.

“We did a lot of work to get to this point, so we’ll just have to see how it responds,” said McDowell, who sat out most of the 1997 season because of elbow surgery. “I just wanted to give the team a chance to win.”

He did that and more--he also set an example for his teammates.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to Jack,” said Dickson, who struck out two to improve to 3-4. “He not 100%, but he just went out there on guts. Over the course of the season, you wish you had 25 guys like that.”

The score was tied, 2-2, when Dickson, but Edmonds made it 3-2 with his 100th career homer to lead off the sixth. The Angels blew the game open in the seventh, which start with Anderson’s homer off Oakland starter Blake Stein.

Matt Walbeck walked, and Justin Baughman beat out a sacrifice bunt. The A’s, expecting Gary DiSarcina to bunt, were stunned when he 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.

“It’s only one day,” Collins said of the Angel offense, “but hopefully it will continue.”