BASEBALL : DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Five-Man Rotation Making a Comeback

The Angels will revert to a five-man pitching rotation beginning Saturday, but Manager Doug Rader wouldn’t say who the fifth starter will be.

The leading candidates at triple-A Edmonton are right-handers Fred Toliver and Joe Grahe and left-hander Kyle Abbott. Toliver is 5-2 with a 3.84 earned-run average; Abbott, regarded as the organization’s top pitching prospect, is 10-6 with a 3.46 ERA.

“We just haven’t been able to do it with four, that’s pretty obvious,” said Rader, who reduced the rotation to four after Scott Lewis, Grahe and Fernando Valenzuela were ineffective. “This is a very difficult time, and if they haven’t shown with a real generous schedule that they could do it, they won’t with a tight schedule. But it still befuddles me why it won’t work.”

Pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said Mike Fetters and Jeff Robinson were “a possibility,” because both have been starters. But neither has started this season. Fetters’ longest stint has been 4 1/3 innings, and Robinson’s longest has been 3 2/3 innings.

The Angels have scouted Milwaukee’s Chris Bosio, among other pitchers, so the fifth starter might be acquired in a trade. But that’s unlikely, because Rader specified Saturday for the fifth starter’s introduction into the rotation and that would place a deadline on a deal.

The Angels’ record since going to a four-man rotation June 19 is 14-15.

The Angels’ three-home run game Tuesday was their first since July 2 and the most they have hit in a road game since they hit four at Minnesota April 13. . . . Luis Sojo’s four-hit game was a career-best. . . . Bryan Harvey has given up seven earned runs in his last four appearances, spanning 4 1/3 innings.