The Plot Thickens as Angels, Dodgers Hit the Freeway

The annual Freeway Series will open at Anaheim Stadium tonight with the usual subplots.

Among this year’s:

--Who will emerge as the Dodgers’ fifth starting pitcher--Alejandro Pena, Tim Leary or Jerry Reuss?

--If it’s not Reuss, will the Dodgers release him and eat his contract, which guarantees the 16-year veteran $1.3 million over the next two seasons?

--Will the injuries to Angel pitchers John Candelaria, Gary Lucas and Stewart Cliburn heal in time for the season opener Tuesday against Seattle? Candelaria has a numb right leg, Lucas a sore left shoulder and Cliburn a sore right arm.

--Will Mike Ramsey, a non-roster player who hit .364 in Florida, make the jump from Double-A and replace Ken Landreaux as the Dodgers’ starting center fielder?

Ramsey, who figured to be only a Triple-A prospect when spring training began, is expected to start tonight when Fernando Valenzuela and Rick Honeycutt pitch against the Angels’ Urbano Lugo and Willie Fraser.

Candelaria was expected to pitch tonight, but was scratched because of the mysterious numbness in his right calf.

In Saturday’s 7 p.m. game at Anaheim, Bob Welch and Pena, who has allowed only one earned run in 18 innings this spring, will oppose the Angels’ Don Sutton.

In the series finale Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at Dodger Stadium, Reuss and Leary will face Kirk McCaskill.

A crowd of about 45,000 is expected for tonight’s game, with about 60,000 Saturday night and more than 40,000 Sunday.

The Freeway Series, which began with a single game at Palm Springs in 1962, is tied, 25-25-1.

Freeway Series Notes

Tonight’s game will be televised by Channel 5 at 7:30. . . . Len Matuszek’s 4-year-old son, Kyle, broke out with chicken pox on the Dodgers’ flight home to Los Angeles Wednesday night. Dr. Michael Mellman will meet with the team before tonight’s game to determine what players are susceptible to the disease. . . . About a third of the Dodger players showed up for a voluntary workout Thursday at Dodger Stadium in which Manager Tom Lasorda threw batting practice. . . . Gary Lucas, whose left shoulder has bothered him, is expected to throw in the Angels’ bullpen tonight. . . . The Angels were 12-15 in Arizona and Palm Springs, and have won six straight games. The Dodgers were 12-12 in Florida. . . . The Angels won two of the three games in last year’s Freeway Series. . . . Fernando Valenzuela, who reported stiffness Monday in his neck and back after pitching eight innings Sunday, threw on the sidelines Wednesday and said he felt fine. He is expected to work about four innings tonight. . . . The Dodgers will leave Sunday after the game for Houston, where they will open the season Monday night against the Astros and Cy Young Award winner Mike Scott. The Dodgers’ opening night pitcher will be Orel Hershiser.