Angels Beaten, but Candelaria Insists He’s OK

DETROIT —  John Candelaria tried to convince those around his locker that the seven runs he allowed in 2 innings Wednesday were not the product of a weakened back, that he felt “wonderful” and that you could just chalk up his worst outing as an Angel starter as one of those nights.

Candelaria talked about as good a game as he pitched.

The John Candelaria who paved the Detroit Tigers’ way to a 10-7 victory over the Angels bore little resemblance to the pitcher who was 3-0 with a 2.51 earned-run average before his lower back was injected with cortisone April 30. He gave up two-run doubles to Larry Herndon and Terry Harper in the first inning, yielded a two-run homer to Harper in the third and turned two of his outfielders, Gary Pettis and Darrell Miller, into fence-busters.

Pettis slammed into the center-field fence twice to deny extra-base hits, and Miller leaped above the railing in left field to take a home run away from Mike Heath. Tiger Stadium hadn’t been witness to this type of shelling since . . . well, since Urbano Lugo’s nightmare ride here the night before.

Candelaria (4-1) was pitching with a sore back that forced him out of his last start after five innings and had Manager Gene Mauch contemplating a spot start by Mike Cook until the eve of Candelaria’s regularly scheduled turn.

Yet, there Candelaria was, providing pat answers to any question concerning his health.

How did the back feel?

“It felt fine,” Candelaria said, blankly staring ahead. “Wonderful.”

Did you favor the back at all?

“No.”

What was the problem, then?

“I got a couple pitches up, and they hit ‘em,” Candelaria said. “That’s all there was to it.”

Really?

Mauch had an answer for that.

“All of Candelaria’s life, he’s been able to to get soft flyball outs after getting two strikes with his breaking stuff and then running a fastball up there,” Mauch said. “Tonight, they weren’t soft.

“Perhaps, in his present condition, he was unable to get those outs. He tried. But when he’s got a physical problem, it’s hard to invent a new style of pitching.”

If Candelaria wasn’t coming completely clean about his back, he claimed to have his reasons.

“I will not use my back as an excuse,” he said. “I went out there and got hit hard. It wasn’t my day. And if it wasn’t for Gary, they probably would’ve gotten four more (runs).”

Candelaria didn’t want to talk about further treatment for the back or visits to Angel team physician Dr. Lewis Yocum once the club returns to Anaheim. “I’ll wait five days and pitch again,” he said.

Actions spoke louder than words Wednesday and Candelaria resembled little more than the Detroit batting practice pitcher during his brief time on the mound. By the time Cook replaced Candelaria with two outs in the bottom of the third inning, the Angels trailed, 7-0.

It would become 9-0 once Cook allowed a single to Darnell Coles and a home run to Tom Brookens. After falling behind, 8-2, after three innings Tuesday, the Angels came back to outdo themselves.

Frank Tanana (3-2) held the Angels to one run through seven and, only by the grace of Detroit’s shabby bullpen, did the Angels make the final score respectable.

Mark Ryal entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, made two appearances against two Tiger relievers and hit two two-run home runs. He first connected off Jeff Robinson in the eighth, then off Nate Snell in the ninth.

Ryal’s second home run pulled the Angels to within three, but Mark Thurmond came on to retire Mark McLemore and Pettis on ground-outs to bring on the inevitable--an Angel defeat.

A trip that had begun so promisingly, with two shutouts of the Brewers in Milwaukee, limped to a close at 4-4. Along the way, the Angels lost their two best young hitters--Wally Joyner, who attended his brother’s funeral in Sacramento Wednesday, and Jack Howell, sidelined with a bad back.

“The last few days, it didn’t matter who we had in the lineup,” Downing said. “You like to keep the same combinations together, but you give up that many runs and it doesn’t matter who you have.”

The last two days, Angel pitching allowed 25 runs. Since Saturday, the Angels have lost three of four games, the defeats coming by scores of 7-0, 15-2 and 10-7.

“If we don’t get pitching, we’re not going to win,” Downing said. “We’re not the offensive machine we were for a couple years. We can score, but not like those teams.

“But, our pitchers have pitched some pretty good games when we haven’t scored. That’s why they call it a team game. Neither segment can start harping on the other.”

And right now, neither segment--Angel pitching and Angel hitting--can be considered in the best of health.

Angel Notes

Because of today’s off-day, the Angels won’t need to use a fifth starter until next Tuesday, which gives Gene Mauch five days to decide what to do with struggling Urbano Lugo. Wednesday, Mauch said he hadn’t decided whether to give Lugo that start, but had previously mentioned Chuck Finley and Mike Cook as candidates for a possible spot start. “That’s been kicked around,” pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said, “but the prime thing is getting (Lugo) straightened out.” Lugo lasted just 2 innings in Tuesday’s 15-2 loss to Detroit, allowing eight hits and eight runs, bringing his ERA to 9.49. It was his shortest outing but, according to Lachemann, “it wasn’t a step forward or backward. We’re trying to simplify Urbano’s game right now and although a number of things didn’t work out, that doesn’t mean you don’t stop trying.” Lachemann has worked overtime with Lugo, trying to develop a consistent breaking pitch, but admitted progress has been slow. “It’s better than it was but it’s still not where it needs to be,” Lachemann said. “But if hard work can turn it around, Urbano will do it because he’s a worker. If he fails, it’ll be more like I failed than he failed.” . . . In Lugo’s last three starts, he has pitched a total of 12 innings, allowing 20 hits, 5 home runs and 16 earned runs (11.68 ERA). Overall, he has yielded 38 hits and 16 walks in 24 innings. . . . Starting pitching currently runs thin in the Angels’ farm system. If the Angels have to look within for help, the best short-term candidate appears to be Edmonton righthander Jack Lazorko. Lazorko, 22, is 6-0 with two complete games and a 3.91 ERA.

Donnie Moore hadn’t pitched since May 5 because of soreness in his rib cage, but Mauch brought him in Wednesday during the eighth inning of a 9-4 game, ostensibly to give the relief pitcher some work. Moore pitched one inning and allowed one hit--a solo home run by Lou Whitaker. . . . Jack Howell was hoping to test his back by swinging the bat Wednesday, but Mauch interceded. “I stopped him from doing anything,” Mauch said. “Howell was very despondent. This is the first time in his life he’s had something he couldn’t play through.”