Angels Don’t Live Through Texas’ Helling

A unopened bottle of champagne sat on pitcher Rick Helling’s chair. There was no doubt about who had carried whom this time.

Sure, Helling has benefited all season from the Texas Rangers’ ample muscle. And, once again, his teammates provided, pummeling the Angels into submission in a 9-1 victory Tuesday.

They did a little sand kicking with three home runs in the eighth inning. But it was Helling who was king of the hill, and mound. Through six innings, while the Rangers were clinging to a 1-0 lead, Helling refused to let the Angels play.

Runs? They were having enough problems just getting base runners.

Helling retired the first 10 batters. He gave up only two hits through seven innings. The Angels finally got a run off him in the eighth. All that did was make the final score a little less pathetic. A little.

It made Helling the third 20-game winner in the major leagues this season--Toronto’s Roger Clemens, Atlanta’s Tom Glavine and, now, Helling.

“Which name sounds out of place there?” Helling said. “I’ve said all year that I’ve been on a great team. If I was on a second-echelon team, I wouldn’t be a 20-game winner.”

Maybe so, but there was little doubt that he earned No. 20.

Helling was overwhelming.

Helling (20-7) struck out five and didn’t walk a batter. He didn’t give up a hit until Randy Velarde doubled with one out in the fourth. He didn’t give up another until Todd Greene singled with two outs in the sixth.

“Who would have thought I would win 20 games when the season began?” Helling said. “All I ever wanted to was to get a chance to pitch every five days.”

Helling had 11 career victories before this season.

“He earned the chance this spring,” Texas Manager Johnny Oates said.

With a pretty good door prize--pitching for a team that has scored the second-most runs in the American League this season.

It has been hard to determine whether this has been a breakthrough year or Helling has simply been getting big breaks.

He pitched a shutout on opening day and was 6-0 with a 2.98 earned-run average after six starts. Of course, the Rangers have scored seven or more runs in 14 of his starts. Such offensive production can make a guy a 20-game winner despite more than a few performances shaky enough to register on the Richter scale.

“There are games where we score 10 runs and maybe Rick gave up five or six runs in five innings,” Oates said. “There were times we scored one run and he went out and held the other team down. If he doesn’t go out and do the job tonight, that 1-0 lead could evaporate pretty quick.”

And there has been no question about Helling’s stature this month. This was his fourth consecutive victory in September, during which his earned-run average is 2.76.

“Over 162 games, your offense will win you some games,” Oates said. “You get to a seven-game series and the team that pitches well, wins.”

It’s now two down with five to go before they uncork the champagne.