Gagne, an .080 Hitter, Strikes Down Angels, 4-1

Forget about Ron Romanick and his “mystery pitch.” That’s old news. Thursday night belonged instead to the mystery hitter.

Greg Gagne plays shortstop for the Minnesota Twins. Occasionally, he also hits baseballs, although the .080 batting average he took into Thursday night’s game with the Angels hardly provided a clue.

The Twins usually hide him in the ninth spot in their batting order. But after Minnesota’s 4-1 victory before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 22,787, the only ones looking to hide were Angel pitchers Kirk McCaskill and T.R. Bryden.

Against McCaskill and Bryden, Gagne produced more hits (three) than he had in Minnesota’s first nine games. He drove in the Twins’ first run with a single in the second inning. He added another single in the fourth. And with Bryden on the mound in the ninth, Gagne brought home Minnesota’s final run with a triple to left-center.

McCaskill was a bit embarrassed by the role he played in making an .080 hitter The Great Gagne--if only for one night.

“When a guy’s going bad, I should get him out,” McCaskill said. “That’s not the guy who should beat me.”

Gagne, beginning his second major league season, has never hit much as a pro. In his last three seasons in the minors, he batted .232, .255 and .280. Last year as a rookie with the Twins, he hit .225 in 114 games.

The Twins were hoping for a little more from him in 1986, especially after Gagne stroked the ball well during the spring. Two-fifty might be nice.

But once the games began to count in the standings, Gagne plunged at the plate.

Minnesota Manager Ray Miller blamed it on the highs of March.

“The trouble with spring training is that guys get a really good average when there’s not much at stake,” Miller said. “Then the season starts and they (pitchers) see a weak spot and really go for it.”

Gagne had one obvious weakness: He was standing too far away from the plate.

“I was tentative and reaching at the ball,” Gagne said.

Miller preached to him: Get closer and get aggressive.

“A couple of days ago, I told him to get up to the plate and hit the ball,” Miller said. “The pitchers were really pumping him outside.

“He moved up and hit the (bleep) out of that last ball (against Bryden). You can’t hit it any harder.”

Gagne hit the ball hard all night. His only out came on a flashy catch by Angel right fielder George Hendrick, who raced to the foul line, leaned into the crowd and pulled in Gagne’s foul drive.

Frank Viola was the main benefactor of this surprising source of offense. The Twins’ pitcher improved his record to 2-1 by limiting the Angels to five singles. He struck out eight and walked three.

The only run Viola allowed came in the sixth, when he walked Brian Downing to load the bases and then walked Hendrick to force in Bob Boone. The RBI was the 1,000th of Hendrick’s career.

McCaskill, meanwhile, dropped to 1-1 after surrendering 11 hits in 8 innings. Four of them came in the second, when McCaskill was done in by a trio hitting less than .210.

With one out, catcher Mark Salas (.205) dropped in a bloop single to left. One out later, second baseman Steve Lombardozzi (.105) dunked one into center field, enabling Salas to move to third.

That brought up Gagne, who lined a McCaskill offering to left to score Salas for a 1-0 lead. Another single by Kirby Puckett brought home Lombardozzi for Minnesota’s second run.

The Twins made it 3-0 in the third inning. Kent Hrbek walked, took second on Tom Brunansky’s single to left and scored on Roy Smalley’s single to right.

Minnesota scored its final run in the ninth. Gary Gaetti led off with a double and was bunted to third by Lombardozzi. That spelled the end for McCaskill.

In came Bryden to serve up the triple to Gagne. He followed that with a walk to Puckett, paving the way for Terry Forster’s Angel debut.

With Gagne on third and Puckett of first, Angel Manager Gene Mauch called on Forster. Released by the Atlanta Braves, who claimed Forster had lost significant velocity off his fastball, the left-hander struck out pinch-hitter Mickey Hatcher on four pitches. Then Boone ended the inning by picking Gagne off third base.

Baserunning is an area where Gagne could still use some work. He also tripped over first base while running out a foul ball in the fourth inning. After he eventually singled on that at-bat, Gagne was thrown out by Boone trying to steal second.

But that should improve in time. Right now, Gagne is still getting introduced to the bases.

Angel Notes

Bobby Grich tested his swollen right thumb in the batting cage for the first time in three days before Thursday’s game. The thumb flunked. Grich was again held out of the lineup. “I couldn’t deliver a blow, at all,” he said. “I couldn’t really grip the bat.” Grich jammed the thumb while tagging out Seattle’s Steve Yeager on the front end of a double play Monday. “That injury helped us win a ballgame, I think,” Grich said. “If I don’t make that play, we don’t win that one. I guess it was worth it--win one game and sit out for four days.” It could’ve been worse. Grich said he lost the feeling in his thumb immediately after the tag and had trouble directing his throw to first base. “At first, I thought I had ripped a tendon, like Rod Carew did in ‘79,” he said. “I was that close from a six- to seven-week injury.” Grich got away with strained ligaments in the thumb and expects to return sometime this weekend. . . . After missing the last six games with a strained groin muscle, Dick Schofield was back in the lineup Thursday. “He told me he was ready to play yesterday (Wednesday), and I gave him one more day,” Manager Gene Mauch said. “If it flares up again, I’m going to be really unhappy.”

Mauch was in fine form as he held court with a handful of reporters before the game. Someone asked Mauch if he would consider using new pitcher Terry Forster, who has a lifetime .397 batting average, as a pinch-hitter. Mauch: “Can you imagine me sending Forster up to pinch-hit for one of those regular players? I’m not afraid of ‘em, but there might be a dark alley somewhere.” Then Mauch was asked about Ron Romanick’s so-called “mystery pitch,” which manager and pitcher played up to the hilt after Romanick’s two-hit shutout. Mauch laughed, taking a good-natured jab at General Manager Mike (Press Releases R Us) Port with his response. “I was having fun with that,” Mauch said. “One writer asked about it, and I told him, ‘Mike’ll have an announcement on it tomorrow.’ ” . . . Mauch on Seattle Mariners rookie second baseman Danny Tartabull, who has hit three home runs in six games against the Angels: “If he takes on the defensive polish of a (Rick) Burleson or a Grich, I’d give my arm for him. Now, we’ll find out if he can handle being somebody. He’s somebody now. Anybody can be a nobody.” . . . It Had To Happen: Borrowing the phrase from the movie, “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” fans of Wally Joyner posted this banner in the upper deck at Anaheim Stadium--”Welcome To Wally World.” . . . When Steve Lombardozzi and Greg Gagne delivered consecutive singles in the second inning, it marked the first time this season the eighth and ninth hitters in the Twins’ lineup reached base on back-to-back at-bats. “We all lit candles after that one,” one Minnesota reporter said.