ANGELS : Keough, Finley Hit Hard in Loss to Padres

Only one thought kept Matt Keough from despair Friday after he gave up 10 hits and five earned runs in three innings against the San Diego Padres.

“I’m still alive,” the Angel right-hander said. “That’s all I can say.”

Bad as it was, one ineffective outing won’t kill a pitcher’s chance of making the team, according to Manager Doug Rader.

“If you are lucky enough to be one of the contenders, you don’t lose it in an outing, or even two or three,” Rader said.

It’s just as well Rader isn’t picking his pitching staff based on Friday’s 14-11 loss at Desert Sun Stadium. If he were, Chuck Finley might be riding a bus in Class-A ball this summer.

Finley, the Angels’ big winner last season at 18-9, pitched two innings in the club’s exhibition opener and gave up six earned runs. Among them was a three-run home run by Tony Gwynn, the first homer Finley has given up to a left-handed hitter since one by the Kansas City Royals’ George Brett on Sept. 7, 1988.

“That ball was sitting on a tee. It had ‘hit me’ written all over it,” said Finley, who was scheduled to pitch three innings but was relieved by Keough with the Angels leading, 5-3.

“They had to bring new dirt in for the basepaths after I got done,” Finley said. “I threw all right, but the results weren’t good. I had good velocity, but I wasn’t putting the ball where I needed to.”

Although disappointed, Finley did not panic. “I’ve never seen spring training stats on the back of a bubblegum card,” he said.

Keough, who signed a triple-A contract last month, is trying to get his picture on a baseball card again after playing four years in Japan. He started with a slim chance of winning a place in the Angels’ bullpen, and he didn’t help himself Friday.

Knowing that his infield gave him inconsistent support was little consolation. Keough was victimized in the fourth inning when shortstop Dick Schofield didn’t charge a roller by Derek Lilliquist, a hit that touched off a three-run inning. Keough was hurt again in the fifth, when a throwing error by third baseman Bobby Rose on Jim Vatcher’s potential inning-ending grounder allowed Dave Staton to come up and hit a three-run home run.

“It’s only the first game, but that doesn’t make me happy,” said Keough, whose father, Marty, a former major leaguer and current scout for the St. Louis Cardinals, was in the stands. “They should be tired, with all that baserunning. It was just a poor performance, no excuses.”

The Angels’ best pitching performances came from Scott Bailes, who worked two scoreless innings, and Bryan Harvey, who had one perfect inning.

“It’s not too early for me to pitch well. I’ve got to start getting people out now,” said Bailes, one of five relievers vying for a spot behind Harvey, Bob McClure, Jeff Robinson and Floyd Bannister. “Somebody who’s got a spot can wait. I can’t.”

Rader was happy with his club’s production, which included a three-run home run by substitute left fielder Max Venable. Leadoff hitter Luis Polonia had two singles and scored two runs in three at-bats, No. 2 hitter Luis Sojo had a double and a sacrifice, Wally Joyner had a single and a two-run double and Dave Winfield drove in a run with a single before oversliding second base.

That batting order and Friday’s starting defensive alignment will probably be duplicated on opening day, with the addition of a designated hitter. Rader saw no need for adjustment after losing the first of the team’s 29 exhibition games.

“It was a normal game in Yuma. There’s going to be a lot of hits, a lot of runs,” he said.

Sloppy infield play undermined the Angels in Friday’s B game, which was called after five innings with the Padres ahead, 14-2. Shortstop Gary DiSarcina committed two errors in the third inning, in which the Padres batted around and scored five runs.

Right-hander Mike Fetters, who pulled his right hamstring Friday, will be sidelined seven to 10 days.