DiSarcina Pulls Angels Out of Five-Game Dive

By BOB NIGHTENGALE

May 6, 1993 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NEW YORK — The Angels desperately needed a hero Wednesday night. They pleaded for someone to step up, to rid them of this oppressive slump and remind them what it felt like to win a game again.

Would you believe Gary DiSarcina?

In one swing of the bat, DiSarcina rejuvenated the Angels’ spirits, lifting them to a 6-2 victory over the New York Yankees and putting an end to a five-game losing streak.

“Once he hit that homer,” said winning pitcher John Farrell (2-3), “you could just feel everyone relax at once. We had been pressing so much, and to have something like that happen was a tremendous relief.”

Said Luis Polonia: “The way we looked at the start of the game, I was thinking, ‘Here we go again. Here’s another loss.’

“Man, he saved us. Everyone started acting differently after that. We became our old selves again, having fun. It’s been a long time since we felt like that.”

DiSarcina, who grew up hating the Yankees like any other die-hard Boston Red Sox fan, stepped to the plate with two out and two runners on base in the second inning.

If it were later in the game, DiSarcina, the No. 9 hitter, would have been pulled for a pinch-hitter. He was removed in consecutive games this week when Torey Lovullo batted for him one game and Gary Gaetti the other.

Here was a guy who not only was in a two-for-24 slump, he had gone two weeks without an extra-base hit. Little wonder why Yankee starter Melido Perez hardly appeared worried when he fell behind in the count, 3-and-1. Certainly, if he had any fear of DiSarcina, his next pitch wouldn’t have been a fastball over the middle of the plate.

“If I have (Jose) Canseco or a big guy at the plate,” Perez said, “I don’t throw a fastball. But with DiSarcina, come on, I have to throw a fastball.”

Imagine Perez’s disbelief when he yanked his head and watched--along with a stunned crowd of 13,047 at Yankee Stadium--the ball disappear over the left-field wall.

DiSarcina, averaging one homer every 120 at-bats, ended the longest active homerless drought in the big leagues. It was the Angels’ first homer in 42 innings, their first home run with runners on base since April 21 and DiSarcina’s first homer since opening day.

“It’s lucky any time I hit a homer,” DiSarcina said, “but I’ll take it. I didn’t even belong on the softball field the way I’ve been hitting.

“I guess the key was just relaxing. When you’re hitting (.218), you try to get three hits in one at-bat. I think maybe we were all guilty of that.”

Suddenly, it was as if DiSarcina’s homer was the elixir for the Angels’ confidence. The Angels’ attack, consisting of eight hits, including a solo homer by catcher Greg Myers, was their biggest since April 24. Everyone, it seemed, benefited.

Farrell who had not pitched longer than six innings in a game since 1989, went 7 1/3, yielding six hits and two earned runs. It was the best he has looked all year, baffling the Yankees with an array of changeups and off-speed pitches.

“I feel I’m starting to turn the corner,” said Farrell, who was pushed back in his last start so that he didn’t have to face the strong left-handed-hitting New York lineup. “I feel like I’m pitching now, not worrying about my arm.”

Julio Valera, who was starting to wonder if he was suited for the bullpen stopper’s job, pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings. It was critical for his confidence, Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said, because of his disastrous outing Monday.

“I’ve never felt any better,” Valera said. “I feel like a new man. Now, I know I can do it.”

And there was DiSarcina. He didn’t stop at his homer. He had two more singles and reached base on a walk. It was his first multiple-hit game since April 12.

“In this game,” DiSarcina said, “you’ve got to ride the highs and survive the dives.

“Maybe we’ve all learned something from this.”