Finley Has His Longest Stint, but Twins’ Tapani Wins Again

The last time there was a pitching matchup between Chuck Finley and Kevin Tapani, the Angels walked away with an 11-run loss. The play-by-play would have been better described as blow-by-blow.

Monday night, Finley was considerably sharper, going eight innings in his longest outing of the season. But the result was much the same, as Minnesota defeated the Angels, 5-1, on Tapani’s four-hitter before 21,656 at Anaheim Stadium.

Last Wednesday in Minneapolis, Tapani (8-5) pitched a two-hit shutout, handing the Angels an 11-0 loss.

This time, the pitching contest was closer. Finley, who is 2-8 and has struggled all season, pitched well--except on Greg Gagne’s three-run homer during the fifth inning.

“You take one pitch away--a forkball that didn’t fork,� interim Manager John Wathan said. “I thought Chuck pitched much better than he has. He got out of some tough situations.

“Tapani was much the same as he was in Minnesota. We didn’t have much chance of mounting an attack.�

The offense sputtered along much as it did in three games against the Twins last week in Minneapolis, when the Angels were outscored, 17-3.

Finley, whose longest previous outing was 6 1/3 innings, gave up eight hits and five runs. Only four of the runs were earned, though, with one scoring with the help of an error by Gary Gaetti.

“I’m encouraged by the fact that I went a little longer,� said Finley, who in the loss last week pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs. “We’ll see how it carries over to the next start. About seven of my games this season, it usually came down to one pitch that cost us the game.�

Wathan said Finley’s forkball “still isn’t where we want it to be.�

“He has been giving up home runs on forkballs up in the strike zone,� Wathan said. “Two years ago, I remember his forkball being down in the strike zone, with more bite. I think even last year, with the bad toe, he threw it better than this year.�

Finley pitched well early, yielding a first-inning run but giving up only three hits through the first four innings.

The score was 1-1 until Gagne’s homer in the fifth.

Brian Harper, who was slugging 1.118 in the five previous games, led off the fifth with a double, and the Angels put another runner on when Scott Leius’ ground ball to third bounced off Gaetti’s chest. By the time Gaetti found the ball and picked it up, he had no chance to get Leius.

The error was Gaetti’s 17th of the season, matching his 1991 total after only 75 games. It also proved to be a costly one. Finley struck out Gene Larkin, but then gave up Gagne’s homer.

Gagne entered the game batting .257, .159 in the past 28 games. But Gagne had two home runs during the Twins’ four-game series against Oakland, going five for 10 with four RBIs. His homer against Finley was only his fifth of the season, but his third since leaving Minneapolis on Wednesday.

“Homers are killing me,� Finley said. “Same story, different town.�

Shane Mack, the first batter Finley faced Monday night, doubled to left. With one out and Kirby Puckett at the plate, Finley threw a wild pitch. Mack took third, then scored on Puckett’s sacrifice fly to right.

Finley walked Chili Davis, but catcher John Orton caught Davis trying to steal second, ending the inning.

The Angels tied the score in the third when Von Hayes’ double to right drove in Luis Polonia, who had singled to right-center, a rarity for Polonia. The run-scoring hit was the first for Hayes since May 30.

The Twins took a 4-1 lead during the eighth inning when Puckett scored on Pedro Munoz’s single up the middle. Puckett was on third after hitting his second double of the game, advancing on Davis’ grounder. Davis reached base when Gary DiSarcina’s errant throw eluded Lee Stevens. Finley then got Brian Harper on a foul pop to first.