Mulliniks’ Homer in 9th Sinks Harvey and the Angels, 7-6

For much of the first half of the 1988 season, rookie reliever Bryan Harvey provided the Angels with just enough bright moments to keep the gloom of depression from completely enveloping them.

There was talk about his chances of making the All-Star team and speculation of the possibility he could win the rookie of the year award. His earned-run average hovered around 2.00. He had 10 saves. He was striking out twice as many hitters as he walked and he hadn’t allowed a home run in the major leagues.

Harvey may still win rookie of the year honors, but he is no longer a resident of Never-never Land.

The inevitable came Tuesday night--at a most unfortuitous time for the Angels--as Toronto’s Rance Mulliniks lifted a high fly ball down the right-field line in the ninth inning that ended up in the seats near the foul pole and propelled the Blue Jays to a 7-6 victory in front of 24,131 in Anaheim Stadium.

The Angels dropped their third game in the last four outings and, despite having won 20 of their last 29 games, trail the first-place Oakland Athletics by 13 games in the American League West.

“I felt good out there the whole time,” said Harvey, who pitched the final 2 innings. “But I made one bad pitch and he made me pay for it. You make mistakes up here and they make you pay.”

Mulliniks said he thought the pitch was “a slider out over the plate.” Harvey said he “hung a forkball.” Angel Manager Cookie Rojas said Harvey made “a helluva pitch.”

In any case, the ball ended up as a souvenir and wasted a couple of Angel rallies as they twice came back from three-run deficits to tie the game.

Rojas protested the game in the eighth inning after both Jesse Barfield and Rick Leach ran out to play right field. Leach, who started in right, stayed in his position and Barfield, who was never announced and was off the field before the first pitch of the inning, retreated to the dugout.

“The guy (Barfield) crossed the line and took his position and that puts him in the game,” Rojas said. “The umpires said, no, that a pitch has to be thrown, but that’s just at the beginning of the game.”

Don’t look for this one to be reversed--the rule book (Rule 3.08) says that play must have commenced.

Angel starter Kirk McCaskill, who has struggled during the second inning often this season (he had allowed 10 second-inning runs before Tuesday night), got the first two outs before things began to slowly unravel.

He walked Fred McGriff. Then Lloyd Moseby beat out a roller up the middle when shortstop Dick Schofield gloved the ball but was unable to make a throw. Leach followed with a run-scoring single to right. Manny Lee drove in another run with a ground ball that bounced off second base and into center field, and Tony Fernandez put the Blue Jays ahead, 3-0, with a line-drive single to right.

Finally, McCaskill struck out Mulliniks to put an end to the inning.

McCaskill, who struck out three in the first two innings, settled into a less-dominating-but-more-successful groove after the second. He gave up three hits--two of which were infield singles--over the next four innings. He retired seven Blue Jays in a row during one stretch, six on ground balls.

McCaskill had won a career-high four in a row and the Blue Jays certainly weren’t battering the Angel right-hander this time around, but a collection of well-placed ground balls and a couple of line drives finally chased him in the seventh inning.

Lee led off with a grounder through the hole into right and one out later, Mulliniks beat out a slow roller down the third base line. McCaskill bounced a curveball past Bob Boone for a wild pitch and then Rojas had him walk George Bell intentionally to load the bases. He got Kelly Gruber to pop up, but Ernie Whitt dropped a two-run single into left-center and McGriff ripped a run-scoring single to right to put Toronto ahead, 6-3.

“The (intentional) walk was the manager’s decision and I’ll never second-guess that,” McCaskill said. “Bell’s a very dangerous hitter. I got the next batter but got too deep in the count to Whitt.”

Toronto starter Mike Flanagan’s assortment of slow stuff had the Angels completely off balance in the early going. The veteran left-hander retired the first eight Angels in order before Jack Howell timed a 1-and-2 delivery and sent a towering shot into the second deck above the 386-foot sign in right-center.

The Angels tied the game, 3-3, in the fifth. Chili Davis led off with a home run to left. One out later, Schofield singled to right, but Flanagan got Boone to bounce a perfect double-play ball to third baseman Gruber. The ball glanced off Gruber’s glove, however for an error. Flanagan then hit Howell to load the bases.

Devon White squeezed home Schofield to tie the game before Johnny Ray grounded to second to end the inning.

The Angels managed to gain another tie in the seventh. Schofield opened the inning with a single to left to chase Flanagan. Boone and Howell greeted reliever Duane Ward with singles to load the bases. Then Ward threw a wild pitch, which allowed Schofield to score and Boone and Howell to move up 90 feet.

White drove both runners home--and Ward out of the game--with a single to right that tied the score, 6-6.

Angel Notes

Left-hander Chuck Finley, who made his first start since June 29 Monday night and gave up 8 runs in 2 innings, said the strained thumb that kept him out of action for three weeks was a bit tender but not the reason for his ineffectiveness. “The thumb was a little stiff, but I just threw too many pitches that split the heart of the plate,” Finley said. “I’d throw one or two good pitches then make a mistake and they would hit it. It was discouraging because I waited so long to come back and I felt pretty good.” Finley said the game reminded him of this spring, when he started against Seattle and the Mariners scored 13 runs in the first inning of Cookie Rojas’ managerial debut. “Seems like every time we have what they call ‘one of those days,’ I’m on the hill,” Finley said. “This was just (lousy) outing, though. It was embarrassing.”

Tony Armas’ battle with the outfield fence Monday night also brought back memories. Armas got his foot hung up in the padded wall while chasing a drive off the bat of Sil Campusano in the first inning. The last time that happened to Armas at Anaheim Stadium, he was wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform. “I cut my leg up pretty good that time,” Armas said. “This time I got off lucky.” The first time, Armas had to leave the game--which happened to be Game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship series--and a guy named Dave Henderson replaced him. There aren’t many Angel fans--or players, for that matter--who will forget Henderson’s two-run, ninth-inning homer and the Red Sox’s 11-inning, 7-6 win.

The Mouth That Stopped Roaring: Chili Davis, who was ejected from Monday night’s game in the first inning and had an 11-game hitting streak snapped in the process, wasn’t his usual talkative self before Tuesday night’s game. “I’ve got nothing to say,” he said. “I’ve been too quotable and too quoted and it’s getting me in trouble.”