Angel Win Is Clouded by Injuries : Downing, Howell Are Sidelined; McCaskill Sharp

The funk that had enshrouded Anaheim Stadium finally lifted Sunday afternoon. The dark clouds dispersed, Cookie Rojas re-opened his doors to the media and all was well, at least temporarily, in Anaheim again.

The Angels won a game.

Putting to rest a pair of growing losing streaks--four straight defeats overall, seven straight at home--and halting a 5-14 skid that began April 18, the Angels parlayed seven strong innings of pitching by Kirk McCaskill and five unearned runs into an 8-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays before a crowd of 29,026.

All of the Angels would have applauded this development, except that Brian Downing had an ice bag strapped to his left forearm and Jack Howell had a jammed thumb so swollen it hurt just to think about shaking hands.

Both Downing and Howell began the day in the starting lineup but neither were there by the time Angel reliever Bryan Harvey retired pinch-hitter Rick Leach for the final, momentous out. Downing had been knocked out of the game when Toronto’s Jose Nunez struck him on the arm with a pitch and Howell left when a lingering thumb injury worsened with each of his three at-bats.

Downing had his forearm examined after leaving the game in the eighth inning and precautionary X-rays proved negative. A second examination, however, is scheduled for today.

“We’ll just have to see how I react over night,” said Downing, making just his third start since returning from the disabled list for a rib injury. “This was a pretty good one. It hit me flush on the bone.

“Luckily, it was more toward the forearm. Had it been on the wrist, it would’ve been see you later--again.”

Howell has been trying to play with a jammed thumb first incurred last weekend in Toronto. “(Dave) Stieb got me and jammed me,” Howell said. “It’s been bothering me off and on, and the first at-bat today triggered it again. By my second at-bat, I couldn’t even grab the bat.”

Howell said he expects to take some treatment, skip batting practice and play in tonight’s series opener against Cleveland. Downing is not so optimistic. “It might be some time before I can come back again,” he said. “Chances are pretty good I’ll miss a couple of days.”

And so it goes for the Angels. Even on that rare day when they avoid a loss and lose no ground to Oakland in the American League West--the deficit still stands at 11 1/2 games--they still fail to come away with total victory.

Rojas, though, wasn’t quibbling. Saturday night, a ragged 9-4 loss to Toronto drove the normally affable Angel manager to so dark a mood that he kept his office closed to reporters and then blew past them with a terse “no comment.”

Sunday, Rojas said, it was good to smile again and renew some acquaintances.

“Last night was frustrating,” Rojas said. “Sometimes, it’s better not to say nothing when you could say something you don’t want to. I thought it would be better to sleep on it.”

When Rojas awoke and returned to Anaheim Stadium, he was greeted by a new McCaskill, who pitched like the old McCaskill, and some Toronto outfield play that better resembled the Angels’ butchery of recent weeks.

McCaskill (2-3) did not allow an earned run in his 7 innings, limiting the Blue Jays to 5 singles while striking out a season-high 7 strikeouts.

“This was two steps forward,” McCaskill said. “Actually, I’m not very far away from where I was in ’86 (when McCaskill was 17-10). With a little more consistency, I should be right there. It’s been a while since I have been in this kind of groove.”

Toronto right fielder Jesse Barfield, meanwhile, got definitely untracked when attempting to catch a fly ball off the bat of Chili Davis in the seventh inning. Barfield lost the ball in the sun, then sighted it and finally lost it again--lunging at the ball at the last moment before letting it drop to the ground.

The Angels had the bases loaded with two outs at the time. Instead of ending the inning, Barfield’s error cleared the bases and turned a 3-1 game into a 6-1 Angel advantage, setting the stage for two more runs before the Angels were through.

“It was nice to finally get some breathing room,” Rojas said. “The ball Barfield dropped helped a lot. I know exactly how (the Blue Jays) feel. That’s what we’ve been going through.”

The Angels batted around in the seventh, with Johnny Ray doubling in a run with his third hit of the afternoon and Gus Polidor, pinch-hitting for Howell, adding an RBI single. The five-run outburst proved a mixed blessing for McCaskill--giving him enough runs to ensure the victory, but consuming enough time to persuade Rojas to open the eighth with a different pitcher.

“When we scored that many runs and took so much time, I saw no reason to force him to go back out there,” Rojas said.

Force?

“I could’ve stayed out there forever,” McCaskill said with a grin. “I understand Cookie’s situation, but in my mind, I have four days to rest. I guess what it is, it’s been so long since I’ve been in this kind of groove that I was really enjoying it.”

Same with the Angels. Their second win of May was something to savor, provided the injuries to Downing and Howell don’t get out of hand.

“It’s important for us to realize that this is just one game, but we should take the good things out of it and build on them,” McCaskill said. “We can’t worry about where we are in the standings and what everybody is saying and get back to basics.”

Pause.

“Of course, that’s easier to say after a win.”

Angel Notes

Brian Downing was batting in the leadoff spot for the second straight game Sunday, a lineup change that Manager Cookie Rojas regards as more than a test-run. Rojas batted Mark McLemore first in 28 of the Angels’ first 29 games, but was unhappy with McLemore’s .227 batting average and .321 on-base percentage. “Mac was not getting on base and he was chasing a lot of bad pitches,” Rojas said. “I want to move him down in the lineup (McLemore hit eighth Sunday) and give him a chance to see the pitcher a little bit before he has to bat. Maybe it will help him. He was just too anxious. And if it works, we’ll have two guys at the bottom of the lineup, McLemore and (Dick) Schofield, with some speed.”

Downing was hitting just .143 entering Sunday’s game, but had walked 14 times in 14 games. “Getting on base is something I’m fairly good at,” Downing said. “Basically, I bombed out in the new lineup during the first few weeks. (Batting leadoff) worked out well last year. The team can make good use of some of my assets. I can’t steal a base, but you don’t score any runs if you don’t get to first.”

Kirk McCaskill allowed Toronto only an unearned run, which came during an eventful, if unusual, sixth inning. With one out and Lloyd Moseby at first base, McCaskill appeared to have picked off Moseby but umpire Drew Coble disagreed--despite the fact Angel first baseman Wally Joyner had his glove wedged between the base and Moseby’s foot.

“Moseby couldn’t step away,” McCaskill said, “so Wally had to call timeout so he could get his glove back. Moseby then took third on a chopper off McCaskill’s glove by Rance Mulliniks and scored when McLemore misplayed a grounder by Fred McGriff. Afterward, McCaskill was angered at only himself. “How can you miss a one-hopper right at you, eye-level?” McCaskill said. “I felt like a nimrod.”

Tony Fernandez also grazed McCaskill with an infield single in the second inning, leaving the pitcher with a welt on his right arm. “That was a message from Mom,” McCaskill quipped. “I haven’t called her in a while.” . . . Chico Walker made his Angel debut, starting in center field, and went 2 for 5 with a pair of singles, scoring two runs. “He was the spark plug, right off the bat,” Rojas said. “That was good to see.” . . . Brian Harvey pitched two scoreless innings, but had to pitch out of a bases-loaded, no out jam in the eighth. He did it the hard way, too--leaving the bases full by retiring George Bell on a foul pop, Fred McGriff on an out field fly and Ernie Whitt on a strikeout.