Angels’ Boskie Feels Heat, Then Cools Down Orioles

BALTIMORE —  Sweat was dripping off Shawn Boskie’s hands. The intense heat and humidity of a sweltering, 95-degree evening had drained the Angel pitcher.

And that was before Boskie shut out one of baseball’s hottest teams, giving up four hits in 6 1/3 innings Friday night to lead the Angels to a 2-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in front of a sellout crowd of 47,291 in Camden Yards.

“Today is the closest I’ve felt to being the most tired I’ve ever been,” said Boskie, who struck out seven, walked three and threw 128 pitches in perhaps his most impressive start of the season. “I’m mentally and physically exhausted, and the worst part is I felt that way before the game.

“After warming up, my hands were sopping wet. I felt so tired I thought I’d have nothing. I was really surprised when I threw some early fastballs by guys. I thought I’d fizzle out after three innings, but things worked out really well.”

Chili Davis homered in the second off Oriole starter David Wells, and Jim Edmonds homered in the ninth, the first time this season Wells had given up a home run to a left-handed batter.

Boskie (12-6) yielded to relievers Mike Holtz and Troy Percival and, as has become custom, the lefty-righty bullpen tandem nailed down the victory, Percival notching his 33rd save and sixth in the past 11 days.

That gave the Angels their third consecutive win, seventh in the last 10 games, and moved them to within eight games of the Chicago White Sox in the American League wild-card race.

“I was reading [Friday] how Boston is back in the playoff picture--that could be us in a couple weeks,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said. “But it would be nice if there were two months left in the season instead of one.”

Yeah, and it would be nice if the Angels had two right-handed starters of Boskie’s caliber instead of one. The Orioles had averaged a major league-leading 7.3 runs per game in August to close the gap on the Yankees in the East, but their bats were putty Friday.

Their only decent scoring chance was in the fourth when Bobby Bonilla walked, took second on a passed ball and third on Cal Ripken’s infield single.

The Angel infield, including first baseman J.T. Snow, played deep, conceding the run, but when B.J. Surhoff hit a slow roller to first, Bonilla broke for home and then slowed, unsure of his decision. Snow threw home and Bonilla, who put up no resistance, was tagged out by catcher Todd Greene.

Boskie then struck out Eddie Murray and Chris Hoiles.

“In my mind that was a run,” Boskie said. “We were lucky.”

After Boskie walked Roberto Alomar with one out in the seventh, Holtz came on to retire Brady Anderson on a fielder’s choice and Rafael Palmeiro on a fly ball. Bonilla grounded out to start the eighth, Ripken doubled, Surhoff popped to second, and Percival came on and struck out Murray to end the inning.

Holtz, a 5-foot-8 lefty who was called up from double-A Midland in July, lowered his earned-run average to 0.78. He has given up two earned runs in 23 innings, and at this rate, his ERA might soon equal his jersey number (65).

“I like being the underdog,” said Holtz, who pitched Friday in front of numerous friends and family members from his hometown of Edensburg, Pa. “I like when people say, ‘Who is this guy coming in?’ I mean, I keep drinking milk and I’m not growing.”

His reputation is. And so is Percival’s. The Angel closer, who has given up three hits in his last six appearances, blew strike-three fastballs by Murray in the eighth and Anderson in the ninth.

“He’s an animal,” Oriole Manager Davey Johnson said. “He reminds me of [former Boston pitcher] Dick Radatz. Like Charlie Lau said, you don’t warm him up, you plug him in.”

This may come as a shock to Johnson, but Percival was running on fumes Friday night. Like Boskie, “I was drained after four or five warmup pitches,” Percival said.

“I just didn’t feel the juice I normally have. My power wasn’t there, but the adrenaline of 50,000 people helps you get through it. Fortunately my location was real good, and I reached down for two good fastballs to get Murray and Anderson.”