Angels Must Face the Music After Victory

ANAHEIM —  A Rick James tune was blaring in the background and the Angels were celebrating one of their funkiest victories of the season. But in the manager’s office, Terry Collins was in a funk of another kind.

The Angels had managed to pull off a most-improbable 8-7 victory over Cleveland Tuesday night with a ninth-inning rally that featured three walks, a stolen base, a ball caroming off a shoulder and a 120-foot sacrifice fly that probably should have been allowed to drop harmlessly in foul territory.

But nothing could brighten Collins’ mood. A CAT-scan at Centinela Hospital earlier in the evening had revealed a broken bone in Chuck Finley’s left wrist and the ace of the staff--who had won 10 in a row--will be out four to six weeks, which probably means the rest of the season.

“Injuries happen in the middle of the year and you deal with it, but the last month of the season when it happens and you look up and you’re in a dogfight,” Collins said, “you just start shaking your head.”

Collins looked out into the clubhouse and sighed. “Most of them don’t even know yet.”

The whole evening was best summed up by a mysterious voice on the Anaheim Stadium public address system that proclaimed the single word “spooky” as the remnants of a crowd of 21,012 filed out of the stadium while trying to make sense of what they had just seen.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Rickey Henderson worked a walk off Indian reliever Eric Plunk. With the count 2-1 on Tony Phillips, Henderson took off for second and catcher Sandy Alomar’s throw hit Henderson in the side as he slid into second. Henderson jumped to his feet and scampered to third as the ball ricocheted into the outfield.

Plunk walked Phillips and Darin Erstad intentionally to load the bases. Tim Salmon then fisted a little pop-up down the right-field line. First baseman Jim Thome, running with his back to home plate, made the ill-advised decision to try and catch the ball.

Right-fielder Dave Justice, who might have been trying to make Thome miss it, slammed into him and knocked the ball loose . . . but not before first base umpire Larry Young had signaled Salmon out and Henderson had raced across the plate.

“If the infielder is going to catch the ball with his back to me,” Henderson said, “then I’m going to go. You’d have to make a perfect throw to get me.”

So, the Angels salvaged a victory and hung two games behind first-place Seattle in the AL West, but their starting pitching is in worse shape than ever. Jason Dickson’s All-Star first half is nearly forgotten, the topic these days centered on how to keep his shoulder from getting stiff in between innings. Allen Watson keeps throwing a hundred-something pitches every five days, but his elbow apparently isn’t very happy about it.

Another sore shoulder and the Angels might begin their September pennant drive with a starting rotation something like this: Dennis Springer-Dennis Springer-Dennis Springer-Dennis Springer.

The good news for the Angels? Springer probably could keep tossing up those 50 mph knuckleballs night after night with no more risk of injury than a guy who plays catch with his 10-year-old every day after work.

The bad news? Springer--who was making his fourth start in 13 days after having given up just three earned runs over 25 1/3 innings in the previous three--has off nights, too. This time, the Indians hit two home runs against him and pushed him around for seven runs in six innings.

But a well-rested Angel bullpen held Cleveland at bay. Mike Holtz, Mike James and Darrell May combined to allow one hit over 2 1/3 innings with May picking up his first major league victory.

The Indians made the most of two walks and a hit batsman in the sixth, taking a 6-4 lead with some help from a pair of Angel defensive lapses. Cleveland loaded the bases with two outs on two walks and a high fly-ball single to center by Thome. Jim Edmonds started back and then came racing in as the ball fell at his feet. Matt Williams cued a roller to third, Dave Hollins’ throw to first was wild and two runs scored. Springer hit Alomar and then Tony Fernandez stroked a two-run single to right.

The Angels tied the score in the bottom of the inning when Salmon slugged home run to right--giving him a career-high 106 RBIs--and Garret Anderson singled and scored on Edmonds’ groundout. Marquis Grissom homered to left-center to put Cleveland ahead, 7-6, but the Angels came back again, tying the score on Erstad’s home run to right. It was Erstad’s fifth RBI and sixth extra-base hit in his last 34 at-bats.