Angels Give Orioles Five Runs, 6-4 Win

The Angels turned two double plays Monday for a major league-leading 64 in 43 games. The pace projects to a season’s total of 241, which would shatter the major league record of 215, set by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1966.

However, a 6-4 Memorial Day loss to Baltimore before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 26,621 stemmed from their failure to convert two other double play opportunities.

--Shortstop Dick Schofield booted Rick Dempsey’s double play grounder in the third, helping the Orioles score three runs in an inning that should have been scoreless.

--Pitcher Mike Witt, reacting as if it was a Larry Holmes jab, ducked under a belt-high one-hopper hit by Fred Lynn in the sixth, the double play shot turning into an RBI single that enabled the Orioles to tie the game, 4-4.

They then won it with two runs off Witt’s successor and eventual loser, Tommy John, in the seventh--one of those unearned, the result of a Juan Beniquez error.

That was a total of five gift runs, nullifying the Angels’ bid for their 12th come-from-behind win and second in two days. A two-run homer by Mike Brown in the fourth and another by Beniquez in the fifth had erased a 3-0 deficit and given the Angels a brief lead of 4-3.

Scott McGregor, the Angels’ all-time nemesis, ultimately survived those bombs and allowed just six hits to register his third win against four defeats. The former El Segundo High left-hander is now 10-2 at Anaheim Stadium and 18-5 against the Angels.

“I really admire that little rascal,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said of McGregor. “You’ve got to have a lot of guts to go out there with his stuff, but he’s been doing it for a long time.”

McGregor walked two, struck out four and was hurt only by Brown’s first homer and Beniquez’s fourth, which was also his 1,000th career hit.

“He’s a master craftsman at changing speeds, plus he has pinpoint control,” second baseman Bobby Grich said of McGregor. “It amazes me how he can throw the ball inside at the letters all the time. He never seems to throw it at the belt or the thighs. He never seems to make a mistake with it.”

The Angels--aside from a streak spanning the end of their last trip and the start of the home stand that ended Monday--had not been hurt by defensive mistakes. This time, however, the mistakes were costly.

The third inning:

There was one out with Wayne Gross on first via a walk when Schofield booted the Dempsey grounder, a made-to-order double play. Lee Lacy and Jim Dwyer followed with RBI singles, then Cal Ripken added a sacrifice fly.

Of Schofield’s eighth error, Mauch said: “Everyone gets eaten up by a ground ball once in a while.”

The sixth inning:

Ripken singled with one out, and Eddie Murray then walked. Lynn followed with his hard one-hopper. The 6-8 Witt ducked under it, and the ball bounced into center field for a game-tying single.

Of the Lynn hit, Mauch said: “I guess it kind of shocked Mike. I thought he’d catch it easy. His first year he might not have, but I expect him to make those plays now.”

Witt was not available for questioning later. He ducked the media in the same style that he had ducked the grounder, leaving via a backdoor to the off-limits trainer’s room.

Witt allowed six hits and two walks in the 5 innings.

Mauch sent pitching coach Marcel Lachemann to the mound to lift Witt after the Lynn hit. John came in and promptly got Larry Sheets to hit a similar one-hopper. John turned it into an inning-ending double play.

The seventh inning:

With the score tied, 4-4, Fritz Connally opened with a pinch-hit double. He moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on Dempsey’s fly to center.

An ensuing walk to Lacy and a pinch-hit double by Mike Young put Lacy on third and brought on Stewart Cliburn, who got Ripken to hit a grounder toward the hole on the right side.

Grich moved one way and Beniquez, playing first, the other, eventually deflecting the ball with a back-handed reach. Beniquez picked it up in time to make the play at first, where Cliburn was covering, but looked only toward the plate, where Lacy was already in with the insurance run.

Beniquez said he could not imagine having time for the out at first after finally retrieving the ball and did not hear anyone yell differently.

Mauch said it had been Grich’s responsibility to chase Beniquez off the play, since it was a far easier one for a second baseman moving toward first with the ball at his forehand.

The manager also said his defense has played well this season, and he would not provide critical fodder for any writer who wanted to dissect it.

Mauch chose to reflect on the fact that the Angels had managed to split a 10-game home stand against Detroit, New York and Baltimore while losing four regulars to injuries. Rod Carew and Doug DeCinces went on the disabled list, while Gary Pettis and Reggie Jackson were unavailable because of muscle pulls.

“Taking everything into consideration,” Mauch said, “5-5 isn’t bad. We had a lot of guys help us out when we needed them.”

Angel Notes

Steve Rogers, released by Montreal last week, is expected to make a trial appearance for Manager Gene Mauch and pitching coach Marcel Lachemann in New York Wednesday or Thursday or in Detroit over the weekend. Montreal waivers expire Tuesday, leaving Rogers eligible to make his own deal. He can be signed for the $40,000 minimum, with the Expos forced to pick up the prorated remainder of his 1985 salary of $950,000. . . . It appears that Ken Forsch, who came back from last year’s dislocated shoulder only to be sidelined since late March by an elbow inflammation, will undergo arthroscopic surgery in an attempt to grind down a bone spur that continues to inflame the ligament. Forsch threw for the first time in two weeks Monday and still encountered pain. “I don’t seem to have any choice,” he said of a surgery that would sideline him another three to six weeks. “I’ve tried rest and I’ve had three shots of the strongest medicine (cortisone).” . . . Geoff Zahn, on the disabled list since April 30 with tendinitis in his left shoulder, is also unable to throw yet and will not accompany the Angels when they leave for New York today. Zahn said he expects to be examined by Drs. Lewis Yocum and Frank Jobe, with the possibility they will authorize a deeper probe. . . . Gary Pettis (pulled groin muscle) and Reggie Jackson (strained hamstring) are expected to play when the Angels open an eight-game trip in New York Wednesday night. Jackson, sidelined for seven days, pinch-hit in the ninth inning Monday and struck out. . . . Doug DeCinces (back spasms) is eligible to come off the disabled list Thursday but said he could not predict how the back will respond when he resumes field workouts that night in New York. . . . Rod Carew (stress fracture in his left foot) said the injury is improving and that he was hopeful of joining the Angels in Baltimore, the final stop on the trip. . . . Tommy John, riding a shuttle between the bullpen and rotation, is 2-4. His next appearance is expected to come as a starter in Detroit over the weekend.