BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Keough Going for Fifth Spot

Five and a half years and one rotator cuff operation after he last pitched in the major leagues, right-hander Matt Keough is relearning the game.

Invited to spring training by the Angels as a nonroster player, Keough has vaulted into contention for the fifth spot in the rotation. Keough gave up one hit and struck out two Cubs in three innings Thursday, besides providing the Angels’ only offensive salvo with a two-run double. His outing was the lone bright spot in a 4-2 loss to Chicago at Mesa, Ariz., which dropped the Angels’ spring record to 5-2.

“They say it’s like riding a bike, that you pick it right up, but I was falling down a couple times last week,” Keough said of his first outing, in which he gave up a run to the San Diego Padres in two innings. “Today, I started throwing some sequences and got ahead of hitters. I was throwing my curveball inside on right-handers and using my split-finger a little bit more.

“I’m pleased, but I’m trying not to build myself up to a letdown.”

Keough, 36, spent four seasons in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers before signing with the Angels in February 1991. He appeared in only two games before his rotator cuff tear was discovered. While undergoing rehabilitation, he served as an unofficial coach for the pitchers he is now trying to beat out of a job.

In a so-so outing against the Padres in Thursday’s B game, Don Robinson gave up five hits and two runs in four innings. Designated hitter Hubie Brooks had three hits and drove in four runs in a 9-2 Angel victory.

First baseman Lee Stevens, his sore right wrist healed, is scheduled for his first spring at-bats today in Tucson against the Indians. . . . Chuck Finley, whose left big toe is still sore, had no complications after throwing for 10 minutes.