Angels Win, 12-6, With Help of Rare Late-Inning Rally

MILWAUKEE — A lost art was rediscovered Saturday night at County Stadium when the Angels took a 6-5 deficit into the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers and emerged with a 12-6 victory.

Thus, for only the second time this season, the Angels won a game in which they trailed after the seventh inning. Usually, late-inning leads against the Angels are a surer thing than a Gary Pettis strikeout. In such games in 1987, the Angels are 2-40.

It wasn’t this way a year ago, when the Angels rallied ‘round their rallies to win the American League West. They were Team Comeback, coming from behind so many times that Manager Gene Mauch was moved to brag, “The eighth and ninth innings are our innings.”

Mauch grinned when that now-ancient boast was unearthed for him after home runs by George Hendrick, Brian Downing and Wally Joyner wiped out the Brewer lead.

“I used to say that, didn’t I?” Mauch mused. “Well, when you hit .240-something, like we have this year, you’re gonna have trouble coming back. But we’re gonna hit more than that, I still believe that.”

Hendrick provided the game-winning hit in the eighth inning, a three-run pinch home run off Milwaukee’s All-Star reliever, Dan Plesac. That thrust the Angels into the lead, 8-6.

Four more runs would come in the ninth. Downing led off against Plesac (4-3) with his 19th home run. Devon White had a run-scoring double, his third hit. Joyner added a two-run home run, his 21st.

“For a manager, the home run is the absolute and complete thought remover,” Mauch said. “Whether it’s for you or agin you.”

In other words, it can be a fast-working pain reliever for the managerial headache often associated with tight games in the late innings. Put a ball over the fence, and all strategy goes out the window.

The comeback so stirred Angel owner Gene Autry, who watched the game from his Palm Springs home, that he placed a congratulatory phone call to Mauch afterward. Holding the receiver to his ear, Mauch nodded as he repeated Autry’s words--’Yes, it was a big win psychologically for us.”

A few locker stalls over, surrounded by reporters, Joyner elaborated.

“The first thing this does, it ends our losing streak,” Joyner said. “The second thing it does is give a boost that hopefully will carry us through the rest of the road trip. And the third thing it does is let us sleep good tonight for a day game tomorrow (today) .”

Joyner was asked about 1987’s lack of comebacks.

“Last year, we had some breaks. This year, we’ve had to earn every win we’ve got,” Joyner said. “We’ve had to go out and play as hard as we can.

“There’s a whole lot of luck involved when you come back. Last year, the ball was bouncing our way, whatever you want to call it. And tonight, the ball was bouncing our way again.”

It was also bouncing, with great frequency, into the outfield seats. The teams combined for six home runs, with Milwaukee catcher Bill Schroeder hitting two and Brewer third baseman Steve Kiefer adding another. All three Milwaukee home runs came against Angel starter Don Sutton, who lasted 5 innings.

Schroeder’s first, coming in the second inning, came with two runners on base. He also hit a bases-empty shot in the fifth. And after Sutton got the first two outs in the bottom of the sixth, he walked Rob Deer and surrendered a two-run home run to Kiefer.

That turned a 5-4 Angel lead into a 6-5 Brewer lead. It also brought on Angel reliever DeWayne Buice (4-3), who pitched 3 hitless innings to capitalize on the rare late Angel outburst.

Plesac, who leads the American League in saves with 19, encountered immediate trouble in the eighth. White opened with a double and stole third. Pinch-hitter Doug DeCinces walked. And then, on the first pitch Plesac threw to Hendrick, who was batting for Ruppert Jones, Hendrick responded with his fourth home run.

“A mistake,” Plesac said. “The pitch was over the middle of the plate. He crushed it.”

Mauch admitted that the outlook wasn’t brilliant when he first saw Plesac and his 97-m.p.h. fastball trotting out of the Brewer bullpen.

“That’s not your best scenario,” Mauch said. “It’s just like how you don’t like being behind at Yankee Stadium in the eighth inning with the classy relievers they’ve had. I don’t know if (Goose) Gossage ever lost a lead there in five years. . . . And Sparky Lyle.

“This kid (Plesac) doesn’t miss too many of them.”

Buice, however, said he could tell right away that all was not right with Plesac.

“Usually, he can run it up there 95, 97 m.p.h.,” Buice said. “When he loses something off the fastball, when he’s throwing 90 and getting the ball up, you can hit the ball a good ways.”

Of such things, the Angels again learned Saturday, are comeback victories made.

Angel Notes With Dick Schofield’s separated shoulder responding slowly to treatment, the Angels Saturday placed him on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Monday. To take his place on the roster, the Angels reactivated utility player Darrell Miller, who had been on the the 21-day disabled list with a sprained finger. “Once we gave up on the possibility that there might be a miracle with Schofield, it was nonsense to be shorthanded,” Manager Gene Mauch said. Originally, the Angels were hoping that Schofield might come back within a week, but according to trainer Ned Bergert, Schofield “hasn’t progressed the way we’d have liked. He’s made minimal strides.” Schofield, who can’t rejoin the Angels until July 28, was asked if he viewed Saturday’s move as a setback. “Not at all,” he said. “I figured I’d be out a couple weeks, anyway. I’ll just bug the trainers for a few weeks and get my solitaire game down.” Said Bergert: “We made a prognosis of one to three weeks, and two weeks is still within the time frame. Dr. (Lewis) Yocum will re-examine him in Boston, and we’ll test his range of motion on Monday. Then, once we get the swelling out of the joint, we’ll be able to do more.” . . . Miller was placed on the disabled list July 3 but will be able to rejoin the Angels Saturday because his disabled-list assignment was dated retroactive to June 20, the last time he appeared in a game. Miller accompanied the team to Milwaukee and took batting practice before each of the first three games here. “He swung the bat real good the last three days,” Mauch said. Added Bergert: “Darrell’s hand has improved. He can now hit down and out on the ball. He couldn’t do that when he was put on the list.”. . . .Mauch has a pet phrase when talking about imminent personnel moves--”Things have a way of working out by themselves”--but after the recent rash of injuries, he’s thinking of retiring that one. “To heck with that,” Mauch said. “I don’t want things ‘working out by themselves’ anymore. I want to be the one to make the moves happen.”. . .. .Of George Hendrick’s four home runs, three have come in games in which the Angels have scored 12 or more runs. . . .In the first three games of the series, Milwaukee has eight home runs. Jerry Reuss (3-1), who has allowed three home runs in his last two starts, will pitch today’s finale for the Angels against Mark Knudson (0-1).