Byline: Tracy Ringolsby and Jack Etkin Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers
ANGELS 8, ROCKIES 4
DAILY SUMMARY
Dante Bichette hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, but the Anaheim Angels scored seven runs in the eighth - five of them unearned - and beat the Rockies 8-4. The Rockies had won 12 straight games against the Angels, including two this spring, and hadn't lost to them since March 4, 1994.
ON DECK
Bill Swift is scheduled to start and pitch six innings when the Rockies play the Oakland Athletics at 1:05 p.m. in Hi Corbett Field. John Burke (one inning) and Curtis Leskanic (two) also will pitch in a game that will be broadcast on KOA-AM (850). Ariel Prieto will start for the A's.
A BASEBALL MOMENT
Each day a member of the Rockies will discuss what he considers one of the great achievements in baseball history. Today, second baseman Eric Young:
``Rickey Henderson stealing 130 bases in 1982. Hank Aaron's 755 home runs was something. But being a basestealer, knowing the pounding you go through during the grind of a season, what Rickey did sticks out. You're not just talking 130 stolen bases, but there's the pitches that were fouled off and the caught stealings.''
SPRING MEMORY
Mark Knudson of KNUS-AM (710):
``In 1985 with Houston, I was told before spring started, it was between me and Mike Scott to be the fifth starter. We were playing the Yankees in Fort Lauderdale. Phil and Joe Niekro started against each other, with Phil pitching for the Yankees. I came in in the middle three innings and had a split-fingered fastball I never had before then and never had after. It was just extraordinary. It was extra nasty. It was diving. It was Bruce Sutter-like that day. I struck out Don Baylor twice on six pitches, (and) five of them were split-fingers. I struck out Willie Randolph and Oscar Gamble. I just had this awesome outing. I was on top of the world. I had a good spring, and this was my best outing of the spring. When you're in that situation, you tend to take those spring-training outings a little more seriously than the Don Baylors and the Willie Randolphs do. They're just getting their work in. It was a night game in Fort Lauderdale, and we ended up winning handily. Driving back to Cocoa on the bus, I was packing my bags for Houston in my mind. Three days later, I was sent down. Nice outing, kid, go learn your craft at Triple-A.''
ETC.
Darnell Coles has hit safely in all seven starts, including Saturday when he went 3-for-3 with a double and one RBI. In those starts, Coles has batted .536 (15-for-28) with five doubles, one homer and seven RBI and has an .821 slugging percentage . . . Starting pitchers Roger Bailey and Kevin Ritz struck out 14 Angels in 11 innings in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Each of them had seven strikeouts . . . Third base coach Gene Glynn managed the Rockies in the absence of Don Baylor, who was in Austin, Texas, for the funeral of his aunt, Mary Baylor, and was scheduled to return to Tucson on Saturday night . . . The record crowd of 9,082 at Tempe Diablo Stadium broke the mark of 8,868 set March 31, 1994, against the Chicago Cubs. It also was the third record crowd the Rockies have played before this spring. On March 9, the Rockies and Cubs played before 12,511 in Mesa, Ariz., which was a Cactus League record, and on Wednesday night against Milwaukee the Rockies drew a record crowd of 8,161 to Hi Corbett Field . . . Vinny Castilla went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk, ending his seven-game hitting streak . . . John Vander Wal, whose first appearance in left field came in the seventh Friday, started at the position Saturday and played seven innings . . . Quinton McCracken, who was 9-for-10 in stolen bases, was caught trying to steal second after opening the game with a bunt single . . . Jim Lefebvre, who previously managed the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs, is filming a series of half-hour programs called Baseball Max for Major League Baseball International that will air in about 100 countries starting in July. Major leaguers training in Arizona will be used on the program, whose objective is to teach every phase of the game to youngsters. Lefebvre filmed segments Saturday with Quinton McCracken on stealing bases, Bichette on a short, compact swing and third base coach Gene Glynn on bunting . . . The Angels broke an eight-game losing streak . . . With Walt Weiss, Larry Walker, Ellis Burks and Andres Galarraga given the day off, the Rockies brought infielders Dann Howitt and Chris Sexton and outfielder Jeff Barry from the minor league camp . . . Angels first baseman Eddie Murray was removed from the game after the first because of vision problems with his contact lenses.
FARM REPORT
In Friday's games against Chicago Cubs affiliates:
Class AAA Colorado Springs (3-0-1) beat Iowa 16-6. Jeff Barry hit a three-run home run and Angel Echevarria doubled twice, driving in four runs. Albert Bustillos pitched three shutout innings in relief.
Class AA New Haven (3-1) lost to Orlando 11-10. Vicente Garcia hit a home run, David Feuerstein had two triples and an RBI, and Garrett Neubart drove in three runs with a triple and two singles.
Class A Salem (3-1) beat an Arizona Diamondbacks team 8-2. Justin Drizos hit a two-run home run.
Class A Asheville (1-3) lost to Daytona Beach 6-0. John Nicholson, the Rockies second-round selection in last June's draft, gave up one run in two innings.
Class A Portland (1-3) lost to Class A Rockford 8-3. Marc D'Alessandro gave up three runs on five hits.
