[0] ERSTAD'S CLOUT WINS FOR ANGELS; PERCIVAL EARNS THE SAVE IN 9TH; FINLEY AVOIDS 1ST LOSS : ANGELS 7, BALTIMORE 6.Byline: Joe Haakenson San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. Tribune Chuck Finley Finley struggled for the first time this season, giving up five runs in the first three innings. But the Angels battled back for a 7-6 victory, capped by Darin Erstad's game-winning, two-run homer before 22,739 at Edison Field. Erstad's homer off Orioles reliever Jesse Orosco Terry Mathews (0-1) got the loss. Although Finley did not get the win, his string of consecutive decisions without a loss remained intact. Finley has won 13 straight decisions over his past 16 starts. His last loss was an 8-1 setback at Seattle on June 27. Despite the abundance of evidence to the contrary, Finley proved to be human after all. He had looked super-human for months. But the Orioles found a weakness and got to him early to go up 5-1 after three innings. Finley left the game after 6-1/3 innings (five runs, 10 hits, six strikeouts, three walks) and he stood to lose until the Angels rallied in the eighth inning. Trailing 5-4, the Angels got the rally started with Matt Walbeck's third single of the night. After Walbeck was sacrificed to second, Gary DiSarcina The game started innocently enough for Finley, as he retired Roberto Alomar and Eric Davis to start the game. But Carter's bloop bloop Baseball n. A blooper. tr.v. blooped, bloop·ing, bloops To hit (a ball) into the air just beyond the infield. adj. Hit just beyond the infield. single to center got the Orioles going. Rafael Palmeiro singled, and Cal Ripken followed with a two-run double. The Angels' Tim Salmon hit home run No. 7 in the bottom of the first, but Mike Bordick matched Salmon with one of his own in the top of the second for a 3-1 Orioles lead. In the third, the Orioles appeared to have Finley on the ropes, adding two more runs on RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in doubles by Lenny Webster and Jeffrey Hammonds. But Finley somehow righted himself after the third. He held the Orioles scoreless until the seventh, when with one out he walked Palmeiro and gave up a double to Ripken, sending him to the showers. Finley's recent success has created such confidence among the Angels that manager Terry Collins admitted he would wake up smiling on days Finley would be starting. ``And it's not just me,'' Collins said. ``I think when players come to the ballpark they're thinking, `We've got Chuck today. We can relax. We don't have to get seven runs today.' '' Finley's rough outing Wednesday was a fluke, the Angels knowing that their biggest problem has been a lack of offense. Going into Wednesday's game, they ranked 12th of 14 American League teams in both team batting average (.252) and runs scored (73). CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Mike Bordick of the Orioles gets effusive ef·fu·sive adj. 1. Unrestrained or excessive in emotional expression; gushy: an effusive manner. 2. Profuse; overflowing: effusive praise. congratulations from his teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run off Angels ace Chuck Finley in the second inning. The Angels won the game 7-6. John Hayes/Associated Press |
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