Good News for Holton, Although Angels Win : Hillegas, Brennan, Crews Sent to Minors

The bubble burst for a trio of pitchers Sunday afternoon as the Dodgers trimmed their roster to 24 for opening day. Three of the four pitchers on the bubble--Shawn Hillegas, William Brennan and Brian Holton--pitched against the Angels Sunday at Anaheim Stadium and none did much to help his case for the making the team.

Curiously, the one who was least effective, Holton, was the one who made the roster.

Hillegas allowed two runs in five innings, Brennan gave up two in two innings and Holton yielded two more in just one inning as the Angels beat the Dodgers, 6-1, in front of 41,511 in the Freeway Series finale.

Hillegas, Brennan and Tim Crews, who “celebrated” his 27th birthday Sunday, were optioned to the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque. Veterans Tito Landrum and Alex Trevino were released as expected.

The Dodgers announced the cuts after the game, but Manager Tommy Lasorda and Fred Claire, the executive vice president, said they had made up their minds before the game.

That was good news for Holton.

“The decision was still up in the air (before Sunday),” Lasorda said. “It wasn’t like we could put our finger on it and say this guy is the best of the four. We had to go with the guy who fit the role best.”

The role--as the team’s 10th pitcher--will be long relief, maybe an occasional start and possibly short relief in an emergency.

Holton, who led the Dodger staff in appearances last year with 53, had a less-than-awesome spring, finishing with a 1-0 record and a 6.15 earned-run average. But the Dodgers decided to go with experience and let the younger players continue to get regular work in the minors.

“We went with Brian because he’s been through the wars,” Claire said. “We feel certain the other guys could have filled the role, but Brian has shown us he can do it.”

Holton, who said he realized he made the team when he was the only one of the four who was not called into Lasorda’s office after the game, didn’t show all that much Sunday. The Angels added two insurance runs on three hits and walk against him in the eighth inning.

“A week and a half ago, I had a lot of doubts,” he said. “But I decided to just pitch and not worry about it. This has been a tough spring for me, but now I feel like a weight has been lifted from me.”

Crews, Brennan and Hillegas were left burdened with the sinking feeling that goes with a trip to Albuquerque.

“I thought I should have made the team,” said Crews, who was 2-0 with a 5.06 ERA. “I thought I’d be angry, but I’m not. I just feel a little frustrated.”

Brennan and Hillegas can relate to that, but both said they were resolved to pitching so well in the minors that the Dodgers won’t be able to ignore them any longer.

The Angels--whose starting pitching has been questioned, doubted and often maligned for much of the spring--came out of the Freeway Series with reason for a measure of optimism. Dan Petry had his best outing of the spring Friday night and Chuck Finley allowed just one run in five innings Saturday night. Sunday, Kirk McCaskill was very sharp, giving up just one run and two hits in six innings of work.

“All I’ve read all spring is how bad our pitching staff is and I just don’t see it that way,” McCaskill said. “Pitching is a delicate thing and it takes time to come together. Sometimes (the media) makes too much out of results.”

McCaskill, with the exception of a solo home run by John Shelby in the third inning and a single to right by Danny Heep in the sixth, had nothing but good results Sunday.

“I’m very pleased with my fastball and the way I’ve been zoning it inside,” he said. “My location on the fastball has allowed me to get by with some mistakes. I’m less satisfied with the breaking ball, but that will come along.”

The Dodger offense, which averaged six runs a game in the first two Freeway Series contests, may have been down Sunday but not as far down as their defense.

The Angels got a run in the fifth without the benefit of a hit. Mark McLemore walked and took second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Hillegas elected to walk Wally Joyner, who had tripled in the first Angel run, and pitch to Brian Downing. Joyner broke for second and catcher Mike Scioscia threw down to second, but Joyner stopped three-quarters of the way to second and headed back toward first. When second baseman Steve Sax threw to first baseman Mike Marshall, McLemore took off for the plate. Marshall turned and threw the ball into the stands behind home plate.

The Angels manufactured another run in the sixth with a little help from the Dodgers. Devon White grounded a single to right and stole second. Brennan’s wild pitch allowed him to take third. One out later, Bob Boone laid down a perfect squeeze bunt and the Angels led, 3-1.

The Dodgers’ sixth inning was a definite contrast, a case of making the least out of the most.

Alfredo Griffin led off with a single and, one out later, Pedro Guerrero and Marshall singled to load the bases. But Mike Davis forced Griffin at the plate and Willie Fraser struck out Shelby to end the inning.

Tony Armas hit his fifth homer of the spring, a team high, in the seventh and then Bill Buckner and McLemore had run-scoring hits off Holton in the eighth.

“Today was the best I’ve felt physically,” Holton said. “It didn’t go that well, but that’s baseball.”

Tell that to Hillegas, Crews, Brennan, Trevino and Landrum.

Freeway Series Notes

The Angels made their final roster cut Sunday, sending rookie first baseman Jim Eppard to triple-A Edmonton. Eppard, who has won three minor league batting titles in six seasons, hit .250 in 20 at-bats this spring. “I’d rather stay here, but I guess I’ll go down and try to do it again,” he said. “Hopefully, I won’t be there long enough to qualify for a batting title this time.” . . . The roster now stands at 25, but reliever Greg Minton (sore elbow) is on the 15-day disabled list. Minton is eligible to come off the DL in a week, but he will not even start throwing again for a few days and probably won’t be ready for at least two weeks. . . . Kirk McCaskill won the Lefty Phillips Memorial Trophy as the best pitcher of the Freeway Series and Kirk Gibson, who had four RBIs in the first two games, won the Fresco Thompson Memorial Trophy as the series most valuable player. . . . It has been a pleasant weekend for Angels’ reliever Frank DiMichele. Saturday night, the Angels announced he had made the big league roster and Sunday he was awarded the Fred Haney Memorial Award, annually presented to the outstanding rookie in spring training. DiMichele was 1-0 with an 0.73 earned-run average in 12 spring appearances. . . . Former Angel Manager Gene Mauch will throw out the first ball when the Angels open at home against Oakland Friday night. . . . A broadcaster asked Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda if he had four minutes to do an interview. “Four minutes?” Lasorda asked. “You want me to do an interview or cook an egg?”