Spring Training / Angels : Twinge in Elbow Forces Forsch Out

The Ken Forsch comeback from a dislocated shoulder was put on hold Sunday.

There is no problem with the shoulder, but a recurring twinge in Forsch’s right elbow forced him out of a three-or-four inning assignment against San Diego Sunday after just one inning.

“This is a bummer,” Forsch said, sitting on the trainer’s table with a bag of ice taped to his elbow. “I felt good. I was throwing the ball where I wanted. I’ve had absolutely no problem with the shoulder.

“I wanted to get rolling and build up some innings. Now I’ve got to fool around with this.”

Forsch had complained of elbow discomfort after a three-inning stint against Seattle Thursday but believed it to be a normal spring condition. He missed a 1982 spring start with the same problem, but an examination showed only minor inflammation.

Sunday, the 38-year-old right-hander yielded a one-out single to Al Bumbry, then retired Tony Gwynn and Steve Garvey on line outs.

“I felt the same twinge I felt last time, so Gene (Mauch) said, ‘Get out, don’t make it worse,’ “Forsch said.

“I felt good warming up, but then I threw a slider to Garvey and felt it (the discomfort) pretty good. It’s like a sharp pain, and it just got worse.

“Usually I can move the elbow around and it goes away. This time it didn’t.”

Forsch was examined by Dr. Cliff Colwell, a Padre team physician.

“He said that if it’s gone tomorrow, it may be just a one shot thing,” Forsch said. “If not . . . well, I suppose there’s a chance I might have to go home to let Lew (Dr. Lewis Yocum) look at it.

“It only seems to bother me when I throw the slider, so I have to think that I’m probably trying to throw it too hard too soon.”

Sidelined all of last year after dislocating the shoulder in his first start, Forsch’s early spring work had seemed to assure him of a return to the rotation.

“Kenny would have stayed in if we’d let him,” Mauch said, “but we weren’t going to force it. We need him.

“It sounds to me like a spring elbow, a slider elbow. I don’t think it’s connected to the other condition. I don’t think it’s serious. I mean, I have to hope it’s not.”

The Forsch injury is the latest in a sudden string of physical setbacks for the Angels.

Juan Beniquez will be sidelined more than a week by a groin pull suffered Saturday.

Tommy John missed his scheduled start Sunday because of a lower-back strain and is on a day-to-day basis.

Bob Boone did not make the three-game swing to Tucson and Yuma because of a groin strain but may be ready to play when the Angels face Oakland in Phoenix today.

General Manager Mike Port said Sunday that he still anticipated the arrival of Daryl Sconiers at the Angels’ Mesa, Ariz., training complex today. Sconiers has missed 17 days of training, accruing fines totaling $4,165.

Reserve catcher Jerry Narron grounded a two-run single off Goose Gossage and second base prospect Mark McLemore followed with a run-scoring squeeze bunt as the Angels rallied for four runs in the seventh inning Sunday and a 4-3 victory over the Padres.

The impressive McLemore, who played at Class A Redwood last year and seems ticketed for another year of minor league seasoning, has 11 hits in 20 at bats and 8 RBIs.

Ex-Met Craig Swan, working without a contract as he attempts to bounce back from two operations to correct a nerve impingement in the area of his right bicep last year, yielded a home run to Terry Kennedy, then pitched three strong innings as the successor to Forsch.

“He threw strikes like he always did when I knew him,” Mauch said of Swan, a longshot for the Angels’ staff. “I’ve seen him with better stuff but his stuff wasn’t bad. He also had some spring stiffness behind his shoulder.”