Indians Are Left Smarting After Wise’s Big Game

Angel pitcher Matt Wise’s first three big league starts were so identical--he gave up three runs in six innings or more against Boston, Toronto and New York--that Manager Mike Scioscia said they were “cloned.”

Wise, apparently not pleased with his work, went back to the lab for his fourth try, mixed a few fastballs, sliders and changeups together and concocted a gem that a team of world-renowned genetic engineers would have had trouble creating.

The rookie right-hander subdued one of baseball’s hottest teams, limiting the Cleveland Indians to one run on three hits in 8 1/3 innings to lead the Angels to a 4-1 victory before 41,452 in Edison Field.

Tim Salmon broke open a tight game with a three-run homer off Indian reliever Justin Speier in the seventh, and the Angels beat Cleveland right-hander Dave Burba for the first time to move to within four games of first-place Seattle in the American League West.

Darin Erstad, who missed four games because of a spasm in his left rib cage this week, had four singles and two runs in his return, as the Angels moved to within 2 1/2 games of Boston and Oakland in the wild-card race.

Wise, the former Cal State Fullerton and Pepperdine pitcher, struck out five and walked two, and of his 118 pitches, 78 were strikes. He kept the Indians off balance with an outstanding changeup and had them reaching outside of the strike zone for his slider most of the night.

Thrown into the pressure of a pennant race while making his big league debut this month, the 24-year-old Wise has responded with three victories in four starts.

“I’m so oblivious to the pennant race, it really doesn’t affect me,” Wise said. “It’s unbelievable to get this chance. I want to take advantage of the opportunity.”

The key Friday night, Wise said, was keeping the ball down “and not shaking off [catcher] Bengie Molina too much.” Molina, fully aware that Cleveland is a tremendous fastball-hitting team, leaned heavily on Wise’s changeup.

“His arm speed was so great, it looks like a fastball,” Molina said.

Wise’s best pitch may have been a 78-mph changeup to David Segui, who swung through it for strike three to end the seventh. “Luckily, that ball hit Bengie’s mitt instead of Segui’s bat,” Wise said.

Cleveland managed only two singles in eight innings before capitalizing on Wise’s only mistake, a waist-high fastball to Kenny Lofton, who homered to right field to lead off the ninth.

After Wise’s one-out walk to Roberto Alomar, Scioscia summoned Shigetoshi Hasegawa, and Wise left to a standing ovation.

Manny Ramirez slapped a single to right, putting runners on first and second, but Angel first baseman Mo Vaughn, hardly known for his defensive wizardry, stabbed Jim Thome’s one-hop smash that appeared headed for the right-fielder corner and threw to second for the force.

Vaughn’s foot was not on the bag for shortstop Kevin Stocker’s relay, but Hasegawa struck out Segui for his seventh save, punctuating the victory with a leaping, fist-pumping celebration in front of the mound.

The Angels scored their first run in the first inning when Erstad singled to center and came all the way around on Salmon’s double into the left-field corner.

Burba, who is 5-1 with a 1.59 earned-run average in seven career starts against the Angels, escaped jams in the third and fifth innings but got himself into more trouble in the seventh.

Erstad led off with a single, and Vaughn drew a one-out walk. Speier, a right-hander with a nasty slider, did not get much break on his 0-1 pitch to Salmon, but it appeared low enough in the zone to avoid major damage.

Salmon, however, reached down and golfed the ball over the wall in left-center for his 29th homer of the season, giving the Angels a 4-0 lead.

With one more homer by Salmon, the Angels will become the first team in American League history to have four players hit 30 homers or more in the same season--Troy Glaus has 36 homers, and Anderson and Vaughn each have 31 homers.

“Tim had a helluva game and drove in all the runs,” Burba said of Salmon, “but that Darin Erstad . . . I’d like to shoot him, cut him up into pieces, stab him, or whatever, so I don’t have to face him again.”

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AL WEST RACE

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Team W L GB Seattle 70 58 -- Oakland 68 59 1 1/2 Angels 66 62 4

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WILD-CARD RACE

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Team W L GB Boston 67 58 -- Oakland 68 59 -- Cleveland 66 58 1/2 Angels 66 62 2 1/2 Toronto 66 62 2 1/2

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