Candelaria Too Much for Yankees : Left-Hander Allows Only 6 Singles in 8 Innings of 5-1 Win

The left hand of another Angel pitcher was again the featured attraction at Anaheim Stadium Tuesday night, only this one did not come with Band-Aid or sandpaper or whatever attached.

This left hand belonged to John Candelaria and with it, Candelaria threw baseballs past the New York Yankees for eight scoreless innings, helping pitch the Angels to a 5-1 victory before a crowd of 43,905.

The win left the Angels with a 4-8 record during this final August home stand, a home stand that cost the Angels just one game in the American League West standings. The Angels returned to Anaheim 12 days ago trailing the first-place Minnesota Twins by 2 1/2 and leave on a 12-day East Coast trip today 3 1/2 games behind the Twins.

“The last five games, we’ve taken three steps forward and two steps backward,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “If we can at least maintain that pace on this trip, we’ll be all right.”

Candelaria (7-5) gave the Angels their third victory in the past five days by limiting the Yankees to six singles through eight innings before turning matters over to reliever Greg Minton in the ninth.

Minton allowed New York’s run on a walk to Dave Winfield, a single to Gary Ward and a sacrifice fly to pinch-hitter Mike Easler.

Candelaria walked 1, struck out 6 and allowed only 2 runners to reach second base. It was his second consecutive impressive outing, coming five days after Candelaria had held Baltimore to two runs in eight innings during a game the Angels lost in 12, 4-2.

“This was his best of the year,” Mauch said. “He’s still one of the most effective left-handers in the game.”

Tuesday night, though, Candelaria had to wait until the bottom of the sixth before he could pitch with an advantage. Yankee starter Dennis Rasmussen (9-7) was also working on a shutout before Mark McLemore hit a one-out double in the sixth.

Rasmussen then gave up a towering drive to center field by Brian Downing but was momentarily spared when center fielder Claudell Washington made a sensational leaping catch. Racing back to the warning track, Washington left his feet, reached up and pulled down Downing’s shot, forcing McLemore to retreat to tag up and then advance to third.

After walking Wally Joyner, Rasmussen appeared to pitch out of the predicament, inducing Devon White to hit a ground ball to third. Yankee third baseman Mike Pagliarulo threw to second in an attempt to force Joyner, but second baseman Bobby Meacham dropped the ball.

McLemore scored on the error, and Candelaria finally had the lead, 1-0.

The Angels added a second run in the seventh--and they earned this one. Doug DeCinces led off with a double, took third on an infield out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Dick Schofield.

Then, in the eighth inning, they put together five hits to put away Rasmussen and the Yankees.

McLemore beat out an infield single to short and took third on a double by Downing. That spelled the end for Rasmussen. Former Angel Pat Clements took the mound for New York and promptely handed his ex-teammates three runs.

A single by Joyner brought home McLemore and gave the Angel first baseman his 91st RBI of the season. After Tony Armas hit into a double play, DeCinces singled in Downing and George Hendrick doubled home Joyner.

Candelaria was presented a 5-0 lead, but he wouldn’t get the chance to protect it. Mauch said the top of the eighth inning--in which Candelaria allowed singles to Pagliarulo and Washington--had exhausted the pitcher.

“He wrung himself out in the eighth,” Mauch said. “Those extra runs turned out to be nice to have, because Greg was coming in the game, whether it was 2-0 or 5-0.”

Minton lost the shutout but didn’t let the victory get away. And that, as Mauch saw it, was all that mattered.

“That’s a good way to end it,” said Mauch, referring to the home stand. “We can turn it around on the road. It can happen so easily. We just have to play our game, come back home and then roll.”

Or, as McLemore put it: “We’ve got to take care of business.”

Right now, that business is in the red. As the Angels leave for Baltimore, their record is 63-64. The last time the Angels played at Baltimore, they lost three straight.

So before they can roll, the Angels first have to get that matter straightened out.

Angel Notes

Bob Boone caught his 1,900th major league game Tuesday, which moved him within 18 of the all-time record. Al Lopez caught a total of 1,918 games between 1928 and 1947. Barring injury, Boone should break the record in Kansas City, where the Angels are scheduled to play Sept. 14-17. . . . Angel Manager Gene Mauch said his decision to use pitcher Kirk McCaskill as a pinch-runner for Bill Buckner in Monday night’s game was not made at the spur of the moment. “One day earlier in the home stand, I had (Mike) Witt running up and down the runway, getting ready to pinch-run,” Mauch said. “But the situation didn’t develop. Since then, an argument has started among the pitchers--who could run the best? It was split about 50-50 between Witt and McCaskill.” So why did Mauch opt for McCaskill? “I guess McCaskill was sitting closer to me last night.” . . . Add McCaskill: He replaced Buckner at first base and never budged, getting stranded there, and that was fine with McCaskill. “I was scared,” he said. “I hadn’t been on the bases in six or seven years, not since I was a DH in college. My No. 1 thought was, ‘Don’t get picked off.’ That and don’t run around the bases on a one-out pop-up.” Still, McCaskill believes Mauch chose the right pitcher to pinch-run. “Is Witt faster than me? I’m not sure about that,” he said with a grin. “I didn’t used to be fast but I’ve worked on it. I challenge all the pitchers, whenever they want to race.” . . . Last Add McCaskill: Mauch admitted that pinch-running with a pitcher is a gamble. “I once had a pitcher, Larry Jackson, pinch-run for me and he wound up hurting his leg,” Mauch said. “He scored from first base on a double but pulled something in his leg. He had to miss two starts.” . . . Mauch joked that all the recent attention given to emery boards and sandpaper swatches will bring about a new line of postgame questioning. “So,” said Mauch, mimicking a reporter, “what kind of scuff did you have tonight?”