Angels, Struggling Against Indians, Lose Game, Series

The Cleveland Indians stopped jousting windmills a good time ago, their April residency atop the American League East ending once the calendar turned to May. And not a soul blinked as the Indians settled back into the second division.

Yet, for the Angels, leaders of the American League West, the Indians continue to be a royal pain in the Big A.

With Sunday’s 6-4 victory in front of 29,128 at Anaheim Stadium, Cleveland took its second consecutive series from the Angels, two games to one. This has proven particularly disturbing to Angel Manager Gene Mauch, who was so bothered by the latest proceedings that he pulled his starting pitcher in frustration after the fifth inning and got himself thrown out seven outs later.

Mauch was ejected by third-base umpire Jim Evans for protesting a third-strike call to pinch-hitter Jack Howell in the seventh inning. Mauch thought Howell checked his swing. “If he swung all the way, I got no business ever making another dispute,” Mauch said.

Evans sent Mauch to the clubhouse, where he could mull over some of the other annoyances of the day. Such as:

--The Angels losing their second straight to former Angel property Ken Schrom. Schrom, who two-hitted the Angels in Cleveland, improved his 1986 record to 8-2 by limiting the Angels to four runs and eight hits in 7 innings.

Mauch: “I expect our guys, when they see him a second time, to hammer him a little better than that.”

--Home run pitches offered up to Joe Carter, Brook Jacoby and pinch-hitter Andre Thornton. Carter’s came with two runners on base and created a deficit the Angels could never erase.

--A stolen base in the fifth inning by Cleveland’s rookie catcher Andy Allanson. Now, that may not sound like much, but it created some havoc, setting up Carter’s three-run home run and setting in motion starter Ron Romanick’s departure from the game.

Mauch was so irked by Allanson’s fifth steal of the season--”a gift,” he called it--that he replaced Romanick as soon as he retired the side in the fifth.

“I can stand getting beat but I cannot stand giving things away,” Mauch said. “(Romanick) handed Allanson a stolen base and then pitched the rest of the inning with a guilty conscience.”

With Allanson on second and two outs, Romanick (5-6) walked Brett Butler and surrendered Carter’s home run, erasing a 2-1 Angel lead. Romanick then yielded singles to Hall and Cory Snyder before getting Jacoby to foul out to end the inning.

Romanick was miffed over his removal.

“I made one mistake--to Carter. He hit my third-best pitch, a curveball,” Romanick said. “Other than that, I thought I pitched pretty well.

“I was pitching out of jams, Schrom was pitching out of jams. I felt pretty good about how it was going. I didn’t want to come out. I wanted to keep grinding it out.”

Romanick also disputed Mauch’s observations about Allanson’s stolen base. Romanick maintained it had no effect on the pitches he made to Butler and Carter.

“No. No. It had nothing to do with it,” Romanick said. “I pitch better with runners on base, anyways. I concern myself with the hitters.”

Was the stolen base a giveaway?

Romanick admitted he was caught by surprise. “I didn’t think Allanson ran so good,” he said. But he called the stolen base “a combination of me using a short kick and throwing a curveball.”

By the sixth inning, Romanick had given way to Todd Fischer, who pitched two scoreless innings before giving up Jacoby’s ninth home run of the season in the eighth inning.

That brought on Terry Forster, who recorded the last two outs of the eighth inning, struck out Butler and Carter to open the ninth, but hung a 2-2 pitch to Thornton for the Indians’ third home run.

It also gave the Indians their sixth run. That proved too much to handle for the Angels against Schrom and reliever Ernie Camacho, who earned his second save of the series.

Brian Downing drove in half the Angel runs on his ninth home run of the year and an RBI double in the sixth inning. Wally Joyner had a hand in the other half, producing a run-scoring single in the third inning and scoring in the eighth after reaching base on a controversial double.

Joyner blooped the ball into mid-left field, well beyond the reach of second baseman Fran Mullins, who tried to make an over-the-shoulder catch. Right-fielder Snyder came rushing in, slid on the grass and tried to shoestring the ball.

The ball found Snyder’s glove, but not before touching the turf, at least in the opinion of second-base umpire Derryl Cousins. The Indians protested mightily. Allanson came out from behind the plate to argue the call and was ejected when he slammed his mitt to the ground near Cousins.

Television replays supported Cousins. One out later, Joyner scored on a single by Doug DeCinces.

“I’m just swinging lucky right now,” said Joyner, whose three hits raised his average back to .300. “It was a funny call, a funny play, but when nobody made a call, I went into second base and the umpire called me safe.

“That just backs up my case.”

Angel Notes

The Angels will re-activate Donnie Moore today, which figures to mean a trip back to the minor leagues for one of three rookies--Todd Fischer, Chuck Finley or T.R. Bryden. Moore hasn’t pitched for the Angels since May 24. In his absence, Fischer (0-0) has compiled a 4.50 earned-run average and Finley has gone 1-0 with a 5.23 ERA. Bryden is 2-1, 6.55, for the season. . . . As expected, John Candelaria will start on Tuesday--but not for the Angels. Following a meeting that included Gene Mauch, pitching coach Marcel Lachemann and team physician Dr. Lewis Yocum, it was decided that Candelaria will pitch again for the Palm Springs Angels in their Tuesday afternoon game in Ventura. “We want to give him one more start down there,” Mauch said. “That’ll mean nine more days for him to build up some endurance and some velocity as well.” Gary Lucas is also scheduled to pitch in the same game.