Witt, Buckner Form a Nice Parlay : Pitcher, Newest Hire Bedevil the A’s in 9-2 Angel Victory

OAKLAND — Your team has lost four straight. Your division, usually accommodating when it comes to losing, is growing impatient. Your star first baseman has spent more time recently on the stationary bike than on the field. Your bullpen is stretched to the limit. Your ace starter has been reduced to, say, a King or a Jack.

You need help. Fast.

So here’s what you do if you’re the Angels:

You hire a 37-year-old, just-released infielder with decidedly little range and questionable ankles. You watch the Oakland Coliseum scoreboard display convenient losses by the division-leading Minnesota Twins, to say nothing of division rivals Kansas City and Chicago. Then you send the late-great Mike Witt out to the mound, the same guy with three victories, but an unsightly 5.08 earned-run average, in his last five starts.

Then you hope, as Angel Manager Gene Mauch did Tuesday night against the Oakland A’s.

Guess what. Patience was rewarded and another Angel personnel gamble appears promising.

The score, 9-2, was secondary. The Angels would have taken a victory by the smallest of runs. What made Tuesday night’s win over the A’s in front of 16,326 so special was the method.

Buckner, a Boston Red Sox less than a week ago, finished with three hits, two RBIs and assorted compliments from his new teammates. And for a pleasing change, Witt returned to old form and confounded the A’s time and time again. By doing so, the Angels moved 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Twins.

Witt (13-6) lasted nine innings, struck out 11 A’s (Reggie Jackson twice) and allowed only six hits, four of them singles.

Even more satisfying was that Witt stopped a team that has hammered him this season. For instance, his most recent outing against Oakland resulted in six earned runs, five walks and one homer in just three innings. In all, Witt entered Tuesday night’s game with a 15.42 ERA against the A’s this season.

No such trouble this time. Except for a faulty ninth, when he allowed a two-out triple to Carney Lansford and then a towering home run to Jackson, Witt appeared in control.

“When a man sometimes has a year like (Witt) had last year, you maybe get a little spoiled,” Mauch said. “They say he’s struggled. Well, he’s struggled to 13-6. I hope he struggles to 22-8.”

Witt and Buckner spent considerable time in the training room after the game: Witt to plunk his right elbow in ice, Buckner to stick his ankles in a bucket of ice water. It is bound to become a familiar sight.

Buckner had signed with the Angels earlier in the day because he yearned to continue playing, despite Boston’s decision to release him last week. Thank you, said the Angels, who won a recruiting battle with the Twins and Rangers for Buckner’s services.

And if you’re keeping count, this marks the third golden oldie General Manager Mike Port has resurrected. Since season’s beginning, the Angels have acquired veteran pitchers Greg Minton and Jerry Reuss, and now Buckner.

The Angels didn’t need Minton or Reuss Tuesday night, though they were grateful for Buckner’s contributions.

“Buckner has, can and will hit,” Mauch said. “Two hits were probably of equal satisfaction to him. One started (a rally) and one knocked a couple in.”

The first of those hits came in the second, when Buckner doubled down the left-field line. He would later score the first of two Angel runs in the inning.

Later, in the fifth, Buckner singled home two more runs, enabling the Angels to stretch their lead even more. By the time it was over, the Angels led, 5-0.

The fun continued in the eighth as the Angels scored four more times, this time aided by Devon White’s two-run double.

But this was Witt and Buckner’s evening. Afterward, Buckner walked slowly to his locker and explained how, with only an hour’s sleep, he managed three hits. Nervous? Not exactly.

“I was a little bit nervous, but I was so tired it was hard to be too nervous,” he said. “I could go to sleep right now, standing up.”

And hit, too.

Angel Notes

The acquisition of Bill Buckner, left-handed designated hitter and part-time first baseman, already has produced changes in upcoming Angel lineups. Shortly before the start of Tuesday evening’s game, Manager Gene Mauch was discussing the likely move of Brian Downing from designated hitter to left field. The addition of Buckner would allow Mauch the option of placing Downing back in left, Devon White in center and probably Jack Howell in right, a position, Mauch said, that is easier to learn than left, where Howell now plays. Gary Pettis, Ruppert Jones and George Hendrick also would be available for outfield play. “When we were in Detroit (last weekend), I had a talk with Brian Downing, in case this thing with Buckner turned out, about going back to left field,” Mauch said. “He winced a little bit but said, ‘Whatever you think will make us better, I’ll do it.’ ” As for Downing’s half-season absence from the position he occupied last year, Mauch expressed no concern. “Nobody in the league plays hitters as well as Brian Downing,” he said. “Downing doesn’t miss a pitch.” . . . John Candelaria completed four innings of a simulated game Tuesday. After the 67-pitch workout, Candelaria said he did better than expected. “I thought I threw well, but it’s at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and it’s not (Mark) McGwire or (Jose) Canseco up there, either,” he said. Still, Candelaria, recently returned from a 28-day rehabilitation program, judged the outing a success. His fastball was impressive, so much so, that Mauch called it “the best fastball I’ve seen him throw since he’s been with the Angels.” Candelaria is scheduled to pitch another simulated game Saturday at Anaheim Stadium. He declined to set a target date for his return to the starting rotation. “Not yet,” he said. “It’s been awhile since I’ve really been out there. Maybe a couple more times, but not right now.” Said Butch Wynegar, who served as catcher for the game session: “I thought he threw very good, good velocity.” . . . It turns out that Wynegar helped save utility man Darrell Miller another trip to Edmonton, the Angels’ Triple-A team. The Angels, said Wynegar, planned to send Miller down to the minors, thus creating a place for the newly acquired Buckner. But Wynegar, who has been bothered by inflammation in his right big toe, actually considered telling Mauch that the injury prevented him from playing on a consistent basis. “I wasn’t helping the team that much,” he said. “At least with Darrell, he’s healthy. He can play more than one position and it gives me more time. Anyway, I like Darrell.” . . . Wally Joyner (right rib cage) said he might be able to return to the lineup in time for Friday’s game against Seattle. He didn’t take batting or infield practice again on Tuesday, preferring instead to ride a stationary bicycle.