Angels’ Ray Gets Timely Chance, 3-2 : Baseball: After returning from funeral, he is put in lineup--and responds by driving in winning run against Toronto.

His heart was heavy when he returned from Oklahoma after his father-in-law’s funeral Saturday, and Johnny Ray welcomed the chance to immerse himself in the routine of playing second base Sunday when Wally Joyner’s sore knee unexpectedly thrust Ray into the Angels’ lineup.

Ray’s ninth-inning single off Tom Henke allowed him to lose himself, if only for a few moments, in the happy emotion of winning. His two-out hit scored Luis Polonia with the winning run in the Angels’ 3-2 victory over Toronto at Anaheim Stadium, giving the Angels a three-game winning streak.

“It’s tough. Sometimes you can’t help but wonder about certain situations that happen in life,” said Ray, whose father-in-law, Billy McNack, died Friday. “I got back (Saturday) night in time to get a little rest and come to the park early. I told (Manger Doug Rader) I felt pretty good. Wally’s knee was a problem, so I was in the lineup.”

Ray’s single scored Polonia, who had been walked intentionally and went to second on Max Venable’s fielder’s choice grounder. “I was just trying to get a forkball out over the plate where I could drive it,” said Ray, who drove in the game-winning run against Toronto May 24 with an 11th-inning double off Henke (0-2).

“I was just trying to hit the ball hard and get it through. We had four or five other opportunities to score runs and we didn’t. It was an emotional victory and I just hoped I could contribute.”

Polonia admired Ray’s ability to concentrate on the game. “He was thrown in at the last minute and what he did was really something,” Polonia said. “I expected him to do it because Johnny’s been hitting so well lately. I trust everybody in the lineup, but especially Johnny.”

Polonia didn’t trust his own eyes when he scored in the ninth. Jack Howell led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on Dick Schofield’s sacrifice. Polonia was walked intentionally and moved to second when Howell was thrown out at home on Venable’s grounder. Ray then ripped a forkball from Henke and Polonia dashed past the throw home from left fielder Luis Sojo, who had been playing in shallow left.

Dave Winfield, the on-deck hitter, feared that Polonia had also dashed past home plate. At Winfield’s insistence, Polonia went back and stomped his right foot on the plate.

“I touched the plate, but Dave was panicked,” Polonia said, smiling. “I figured I should tag it again before Dave had a heart attack. Finally I said, ‘OK,’ and did it to make him happy.”

Seeing Polonia score the winning run pleased Angel starter Chuck Finley (12-4), who got his second complete game of the season and lowered his earned-run average to 2.50, second-best in the American League.

Finley, who struck out seven and walked only one, worked out of several jams and left the bases loaded in the third with the Blue Jays clinging to a 1-0 lead. Toronto had scored its first run in the second on a pair of singles and a double-play grounder by Manny Lee and added another in the fourth. Singles by Mark Whiten and Lee put runners on first and third, and Whiten scored when third baseman Howell couldn’t handle Kenny Williams’ grounder. Finley limited the damage to one run by getting Mookie Wilson to fly to center and Sojo to pop up to the mound, an easy play made difficult when Finley collided with first baseman Donnie Hill and stumbled after making the catch.

“Practice is what it is,” Finley said about his knack of defusing scoring threats. “That type of thing, you don’t like getting into. But if you’re going to pitch at this level and be successful, you’re going to be put in those situations and you have to get out of them.”

After that inning, Finley allowed just one more hit until the ninth, when singles by Whiten and Lee put runners on first and second. Finley wriggled out of that by getting Williams to pop up to first, Wilson to fly to right and Sojo to ground to third.

“To be able to regroup after throwing that many pitches and getting in that many jams, that’s a real special effort,” Rader said of his staff’s most successful pitcher. “He shut them down and gave us a chance to win.”

They pulled even in the seventh on two walks and a wild pitch by starter Dave Stieb, a ground out by Polonia and Max Venable’s double off Henke. That set up the ninth for Ray.

“J.R. (Ray) picked me up there,” Venable said. “That’s what we really need. J.R. got a big hit and that’s what it’s going to take throughout the year.”

Finley, now 7-1 at home, will take the three-game winning streak--the Angels’ first at home since May 25-7. “I’m not saying everything looks great for us,” Finley said, “but it’s definitely a step in the right direction, especially coming off our last road trip and losing in Seattle after the break. It’s a positive step for us.”

Especially for Ray. “We can’t worry about who’s in first or second,” he said. “We’ve got to worry about ourselves and take each game as it comes and hope for the best.”

Angel Notes

Wally Joyner was scratched from the lineup shortly before game time because of tendinitis in his right knee, which has kept him out of four consecutive games. He will undergo a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test and a bone scan today at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood. Chili Davis will also undergo an MRI on his lower back. Dr. Lewis Yocum will examine both players.

Donnie Hill, initially set to play second, filled in for Joyner at first and Johnny Ray was added to the lineup at second base.

In Sunday’s old-timers’ Game, the AL All-Stars defeated the NL All-Stars, 4-3, despite a tremendous home run to left field by Ellis Valentine.

Cliff Young, who almost won his major league debut Saturday, would have liked to “start off with a bang,” but wasn’t disappointed by his outing.

“I just wanted to be in there and do good because I know eventually the good stuff will come,” said the 25-year-old left-hander, who was promoted from triple-A Edmonton Thursday and pitched one inning Saturday. “I worked so hard to get here and put in enough time competing with enough guys that I think I deserve a chance to compete with the best. . . . If I’m here only three days and help the team win, I’ll be satisfied. It’ll make me work that much harder to come back.”

Mark Eichhorn got the victory--his first as an Angel after four losses--by getting one out, a fly to left by Kelly Gruber. “It was the old sinking liner for a ‘W,’ ” Eichhorn said. “Just hit ‘em where they are.”

Further research has shown that Saturday’s two-home run game was the 25th of Dave Winfield’s career. . . . Pitcher Bob McClure, idled all season because of elbow problems, hopes to be back by Aug. 1.

ANGEL ATTENDANCE Sunday 31,609

1990 (43 dates): 1,398,339

1989 (43 dates): 1,351,157

Increase: 47,182

1990 Average: 32,520