Things Turn Out Right for Angels : Cliburn, Minton Pick Up for Finley in Win Over Indians

Well, it was worth a try. Cleveland Manager Doc Edwards, hoping to capitalize on the still-wobbly comeback of Angel left-hander Chuck Finley, put forth an all-right-handed batting order Saturday night, just to make matters that much worse for Finley.

To do this requires some creativity, such as starting Domingo Ramos at first base, Carmen Castillo in left field and Paul Zuvella at shortstop. But there they were, nine right-handed Indians, all set to jump on Finley, who was pounded for 6 runs in the first inning of his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays.

And for one-half inning, Edwards’ idea worked like a charm. The first three Cleveland hitters reached base, and each of them scored before the second out was recorded.

One problem, however: Edwards never took into account the force of nature, or rather the nature of Finley’s stomach, which forced Finley out of the game in the first inning.

That forced Angel Manager Cookie Rojas to bring on relief pitchers Stewart Cliburn and Greg Minton--both right-handers--and Edwards’ loaded lineup promptly hit the wall. The Indians managed just one more run, just enough to lose to the Angels, 5-4, before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 34,977.

Finley was making his second start since missing three weeks with a hyperextended left thumb. He was ragged in his first start but just plain sick in this one. Weakened by the flu, Finley faced 8 batters and made only 34 pitches.

“He was white like hell,” said Rojas, painting a new and interesting verbal picture. “He was feeling so bad, I had to send him home. I didn’t know he was in that bad of a shape or I wouldn’t have sent him out there.”

When Finley’s stomach turned, so did the game. Cliburn, the Angels’ first right-hander, came on to limit the Indians to 1 run in 6 innings, the longest stint of his major league career. Minton followed and pitched the last two innings, earning his fourth save and putting Cliburn in position for his fourth victory.

Making that victory possible were home runs by Devon White and Brian Downing, plus a tiebreaking single by Downing in the seventh inning.

By the game’s final out, Finley was home in bed and the Angels were closer to .500 than they had been since April. Winning for the 11th time in 14 games, the Angels are 47-49. They haven’t been that close to .500 since April 22, when they were 7-9.

“Unbelievable,” Rojas said.

“We’ve been playing our butts off for a long time now,” Downing said. “I didn’t expect we would be playing .700 ball this long, but everybody knew we weren’t that bad.

“We’ve come a long way back, but it’s certainly nothing to be overjoyed about. There’s still a lot more to be done.”

Resurrections take time. Luck often helps--even apparent bad luck, such as the virus that hit Finley even harder than the Indian offense.

Pale and fatigued, Finley staggered through the top of the Cleveland batting order, surrendering a single to Julio Franco, a walk to Ramos, a single to Joe Carter, a sacrifice fly to Ron Kittle, a single to Cory Snyder and a walk to Brook Jacoby.

Then Finley struck out Castillo for the second out of the inning, but the Indians led, 3-0.

Then came the bottom of the first. And soon, the Angels and the Indians were tied.

White led off with a home run to center field off Scott Bailes, White’s second game-opening homer of the season. His first? That also came against Bailes, in Cleveland July 10 during a 7-5 Angel victory.

More of the same followed. Downing walked, Wally Joyner singled, and Chili Davis’ bloop single to right field scored Downing. Tony Armas added another single, Joyner scored another run, and the score was tied, 3-3.

Cliburn entered the game in the top of the second, suddenly working from scratch.

Cliburn (4-0) had never pitched more than 5 innings in a big league game, reaching that total once, on June 4, 1985. This time, he went 6 innings, keeping the Angels close enough for Downing to put them ahead.

Cliburn yielded six hits and hit a batter--striking Chris Bando in the helmet, knocking him to the ground but not out of the game. Yet, Cleveland could score just once against him, in the third inning, when Kittle singled, Snyder doubled and Jacoby delivered a sacrifice fly.

That gave Cleveland a 4-3 lead, but Downing would eventually take care of that. En route to his first three-hit game since May 19, Downing homered in the fifth inning to tie the score again. Then, in the seventh, with White on third base and two outs, Downing singled off reliever Don Gordon (2-2) for his seventh game-winning hit of the season.

Minton worked the eighth and ninth innings, striking out 4 of the 7 batters he faced, including the side in the eighth.

By the time he was through, Minton had his fourth save and the Angels were, possibly, only two days away from .500.

Angel Notes

The return of Mike (Day-To-Day Basis) Witt has been pushed back to Tuesday at the earliest. Angel Manager Cookie Rojas said Willie Fraser will start today’s series finale with Cleveland, and Kirk McCaskill will pitch Monday night’s opener against Oakland. “After that, I don’t know,” Rojas said. “Witt still can’t throw. He says he’s improved, but what does that mean? You can walk a little better? You have a little less pain? It’s like (Dan) Petry and his ankle. He says he’s improved, but how long does that mean--three weeks, six weeks, eight months? Improved, to me, is when he can pitch.” . . . Fraser will be making his second start on three days’ rest as Witt’s replacement. Pinch-start No. 1 was shaky: 4 runs and 7 hits in 4 innings during Wednesday night’s 7-6 Angel victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Asked about trying it again with Fraser, Rojas said, “The only question is, who else do we have to pitch? We have nobody else. Fraser has been effective on three days’ rest before (2-0 in four such starts), so he’s the logical guy. If we give a start to someone in the bullpen, we’ve got Oakland coming in and our bullpen is torn up.” Rojas said the only reliever he’d consider using in what he called “an emergency situation” is left-hander Sherman Corbett. Corbett was a starter in the minor leagues until 1987.

Of course, there’s also the McCaskill Factor. McCaskill last pitched Tuesday night, which means he would have four days’ rest, which would make him available to start today. But Rojas, using the new Cookie math, maintains that McCaskill would have only 3 1/2 days’ rest going into today’s game. “Sunday’s a day game, so that’s a half-day,” Rojas reasoned. “McCaskill had (elbow) surgery a year ago. Why take a chance on moving him up a day to pitch?” Could Rojas possibly be saving McCaskill, his only winning starting pitcher, for the first-place Athletics? “I don’t hold out guys so they can pitch against this team or that team,” Rojas said. “That’s not really why he’s pitching against Oakland. It’s just his turn to pitch.” Oh, and McCaskill’s career record against Oakland: 5-2. . . . Cleveland second baseman Julio Franco, already the owner of this season’s longest American League hitting streak at 21 games, increased his current streak to 19 games with singles in his first two at-bats Saturday. . . . Devon White’s first-inning home run against Scott Bailes was the Angels’ third leadoff home run of the season. Along with White’s other leadoff home run against Bailes (July 10 in Cleveland), Dick Schofield also opened a May 27 game against the Baltimore Orioles with a home run.