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 Despite the abundance of evidence to the contrary, Chuck Finley The Angels' pitcher had looked super-human for months, winning 13 consecutive decisions including three this season. But the Baltimore Orioles This article is about the contemporary American major league baseball team. For other uses, see Baltimore Oriole (disambiguation). The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. found a weakness, got to him early and tied the Angels 5-5 in the eighth inning before 22,739 at Edison Field Wednesday night. But in the bottom of the eighth, Darin Erstad Darin Charles Erstad (born June 4, 1974 in Jamestown, North Dakota) is a first baseman/center fielder in Major League Baseball currently with the Chicago White Sox. Prior to 2007, he had played his entire career with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim franchise (1996-2006). of the Angels hit a two-run homer off Jesse Orosco The Orioles scored one in the ninth and had two runners aboard when the game ended. Troy Percival Troy Eugene Percival (born August 9, 1969 in Fontana, California) is a Major League Baseball reliever on the St. Louis Cardinals. Percival came out of retirement on June 8, 2007 when he signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals[1]. got the save. Finley's last loss was an 8-1 setback at Seattle on June 27. The game started innocently enough for Finley, as he retired Roberto Alomar and Eric Davis to start the game. But Joe 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 line for the night: 6-1/3 innings, 5 runs, 10 hits, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks. His ERA rose from 0.56 to 1.63. 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). ``We had a great spring offensively, we led the league in hitting, Collins noted. ``We kept asking ourselves, `Are we getting these guys enough at-bats to get them out of the chute?' ``We just haven't hit and that surprises me. It's been a surprise to them and a surprise to me. You can talk about grinding it out, but the big things are work and patience. The work is there. Now we have to get in the game and apply ourselves. Frustration has been there too, Collins said. ``I can't tell you how many bats have gone flying by me up the tunnel,'' Collins said. ``That's why the security guy isn't sitting down there anymore.'' 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. John Hayes/Associated Press |
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