Angels Look Rosy, Defeat Twins, 3-2

For the past two days, faithful readers of baseball box scores have received an additional jolt while drinking their morning coffee.

There it is, in the small print, listed eighth in the Angels’ batting order:

Rose, 3b .

Yes, that’s the same name and, yes, that’s the same position the former Cincinnati Red played during the Big Red Machine days of the mid-1970s, but no, there’s no additional connection.

This Rose is called Bobby by his friends and Tuesday night, he made at least 23 new ones. By going three-for-three with two runs batted in in his second big league start, Rose helped the Angels to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins before 32,050 at Anaheim Stadium.

In the process, he made a 14-game winner out of Angel starter Chuck Finley while keeping the Angels within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Oakland Athletics in the American League West.

A week ago at this time, Bobby Rose was just another double-A infielder, trying to learn his craft in the Texas town of Midland.

Two years ago at this time, he was out of baseball entirely, having quit after two mediocre seasons at Salem and Quad City. He was in Orange County, all right, but he wasn’t in uniform, he was working instead for a graphics company.

Getting here from there took some doing--primarily some convincing by his family to give baseball another try, followed by some heavy hitting at Midland.

Last week, Rose, 23, was leading the Texas League with a .359 batting average. He had also just hit for the cycle in one game, surpassing the 70-RBI mark along the way.

These are the sort of things that catch a major league club’s attention. So, when Angel shortstop Dick Schofield broke his hand last Thursday, the call went to Midland.

Rose was coming up.

“I had no idea,” Rose said. “I live in San Dimas and was just looking forward to driving home with my wife after the season.”

Homecoming came early, along with his big league debut. Angel Manager Doug Rader threw Rose into the Angel lineup for the first time Monday and, a day after that, he was thrown into the limelight.

Rose singled in his first at-bat against Minnesota starter Mike Dyer (1-3), but saved his real damage for the later innings. In the fourth, he singled home the tying run and in the sixth, he broke that tie with a triple that scored Chili Davis.

“A very nice job,” Rader assessed. “He’s got a lot of guts. You could start him in a World Series and he’d plug right along.”

Afterward, Rose was greeted and congratulated by Angel pitcher Bert Blyleven, who handed him three mementoes for the trophy case.

The baseball for his first hit.

The baseball for his first RBI.

The baseball for his first triple.

Yes, it was an eventful night.

“I’m still numb,” Rose said.

The Angels were feeling much the same way after the top of the first inning, finding themselves trailing, 2-0, before taking their first at-bats for the second night in a row.

Just as Kirk McCaskill had on Monday night, Finley (14-8) yielded hits to the first two batters--back-to-back doubles by Al Newman and Greg Gagne. Gagne then moved to third base on an infield out and scored on a two-out single by catcher Brian Harper.

But Minnesota’s 2-0 advantage lasted only three pitches into the bottom of the first. Devon White, batting leadoff for the second game in a row, sent a 1-and-2 delivery by Dyer into the right-field bullpen for his 11th home run of the season and the Angels’ fourth leadoff homer of 1989.

All four have been struck by different players--Dick Schofield, Brian Downing, Claudell Washington and, now, White.

The Angels also put a pair of runners on base in the second inning, with Jack Howell walking and Rose singling to left for his first major league hit. But both were stranded when Dyer retired Kent Anderson on a fly to right and White on a grounder to second.

In the fourth inning, Rose produced his second hit as an Angel--and this time, it produced a run. Two outs after Davis opened the inning with a double, Rose singled through the right side of the infield to bring him in with the tying run.

The Angels had a chance to take the lead there, too, when Anderson followed by ricocheting a line drive off Dyer’s leg for an infield single, enabling Rose to advance all the way to third.

But, again, White ended the threat by flying out to left.

The Angels had to await Rose’s next at-bat before breaking the tie. In the bottom of the seventh, Davis led off with a walk and, two outs later, was still at first base.

Rose found a way to get him home.

His drive into the gap in right-center field landed beyond the reach of Twins center fielder Kirby Puckett and right fielder John Moses, bounding all the way to the wall. By the time the ball was retrieved and relayed back to the infield, Davis had scored and Rose was standing on third.

That was all the offense Finley and Angel reliever Bryan Harvey needed. Finley pitched into the eighth inning, where Harvey replaced him with one out and two runners on base. Harvey made it momentarily interesting, walking pinch-hitter Jim Dwyer to load the bases, but came back to pitch his way out of the jam.

In the ninth, he set down the side in order, striking out pinch-hitter Kent Hrbek and Puckett for the final outs.

It was the 18th save of the season for Harvey, surpassing his rookie total of 17 last year.

Angel Notes This hasn’t been an august August for Angel relief pitcher Greg Minton, who has an earned-run average of 11.73 in seven appearances since July 27, giving up 17 hits and 10 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings. His last outing, coming Monday night against Minnesota, featured five Twin hits in 2 2/3 innings--which was termed “progress” by Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann. “The last couple innings were better,” Lachemann said. “The first inning, his pitches were flat and there were a couple balls hit hard. But this might be just what he needed--to stay out there and work things out. That’s the tough part about being a short reliever. If you get in a slump, you’re never out there long enough to straighten things out.” Lachemann also said he detected a flaw in Minton’s delivery, which he believes can be corrected. “He needs to maintain a better angle on his release,” Lachemann said. “If he comes in too flat, it gives his fastball more of a boring action than a sinking action. The reason he doesn’t give up (many) home runs is because it’s very tough to dig that sinker out of there. He just can’t let himself get flat with the angle of his delivery.”

His managing style crimped by the Angel injury wave and Minnesota’s choice of a right-handed starting pitcher, Doug Rader started a patchwork lineup consisting of Jack Howell in right field, Bobby Rose at third base and Claudell Washington at designated hitter Tuesday night. The idea, Rader explained was two-fold--first, to keep Washington in the lineup and, secondly, to start an extra left-handed hitter (Howell) against the Twins’ Mike Dyer. Washington is still unable to play in the field because of a bruised left shoulder, so Howell became Rader’s right fielder of choice. Tuesday marked Howell’s first appearance in right field since Sept, 10, 1988, during a 17-inning game in Texas. Howell’s last start in right was nearly two years ago--Aug. 31, 1987, in Toronto.