Ex-Angel White Helps Blue Jays Tip Langston

TORONTO —  This was no grudge match, Devon White insisted. Hitting a two-run home run against Angel left-hander Mark Langston Friday in the Blue Jays’ 5-1 victory was like hitting a homer against any team whose uniform he never wore.

“That’s in the past,” White said of his Angel career, which ended in December with his trade to Toronto. “I’ve got to go on with my life.

“When I came to Anaheim, it was a little bit strange (wondering) how the fans were going to act and what the situation would be, but after the first at-bat, that was gone. I came into major league baseball with them, but a lot of things happen. There’s very few people who stay with an organization for their whole career.”

Against the organization that drafted him, nurtured him and ultimately gave up on mining his potential, White displayed the talent that tantalized the Angels for so long.

White’s seventh-inning homer against Langston (6-2), his first of the season, gave Toronto left-hander David Wells (6-4) enough of a lead to go on to the first complete game of his three-plus major league seasons.

Wells, a Torrance native, was still shaking over his accomplishment long after the sellout crowd of 50,252 had filed out of the SkyDome.

“It’s a major deal to me,” said Wells, who was 5-1 in May with a 1.73 earned-run average. “It’s nice to have those complete games. I’d been trying to get one for two years. I had a lot of opportunities.”

The Angels converted their first scoring opportunity, in the first inning. Luis Polonia led off with a double to right-center field, moved to third on Luis Sojo’s sacrifice and scored on Gary Gaetti’s fielder’s choice grounder. It resembled his last start against the Angels, last Sunday, when his 60 friends and relatives in the stands at Anaheim Stadium watched him give up five runs in 2 2/3 innings in a 6-2 Angel victory.

After Polonia scored, pitching a complete game was far from Wells’ mind. Pitching a complete inning came first.

“I was just hoping to get out of that inning,” he said. “I went out there and fought and pitched my butt off.

“I felt a little stressed out in California, but I couldn’t let that bother me. I had six days to regroup and I did. I got pumped up.”

Mixing his pitches, generally getting ahead with his breaking ball and slipping in his fastball to keep the Angels off stride, enabled Wells to recover. He retired 14 consecutive hitters after Lance Parrish’s leadoff single in the second and gave up five hits while striking out nine.

“I just want to go out there and win. We’ve been in contention the last three years and we have a hell of a ballclub,” Wells said after the Blue Jays kept pace with the Red Sox and stayed percentage points behind Boston atop the AL East.

“Pitching is important for us. If we get a pitcher who can go out there and keep the opposition to two, we know we’re going to score two or three runs.”

They scored three in the second against Langston on a walk, a single by Pat Borders, Kenny Williams’ double into the left-field corner and Manuel Lee’s RBI-single. Langston discovered early that his location was off and he didn’t have much of a changeup, but he survived scoring threats in the fourth and fifth to keep the game close.

“You’ve got to give him a lot of credit for that, but you’re not going to survive for very long without having all your weapons,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said.

“Mark battled very hard. . . . It’s hard to explain that tonight he was fortunate to give up five runs. It sounds negative, but it’s not. Last year, he wouldn’t have given us seven innings.”

Langston, also 5-1 in May, complimented White for bettering him in their seventh-inning encounter.

“It was a fastball right where I wanted it. He obviously was looking for it and he hit it,” said Langston, who hadn’t given up five earned runs since his second start, April 16 against Oakland.

“You have to tip your hat to him. I hit the location I wanted on that one.”

Its final location was the left-field seats, 379 feet away. “I don’t think it was his best fastball,” White said, smiling.

“I was just looking for it inside and I got it and I took advantage of it.”

Although the Angels could never take full advantage of White’s talents, the Blue Jays are hoping they can. “He’s a key player out there for us,” Wells said. “He’s a big plus for this ballclub for making things happen out there.”