BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Finley Makes Spring Debut

Home plate wasn’t moved farther away from the pitching mound while Chuck Finley recovered from surgery on his left big toe. It simply felt that way to the Angel left-hander Wednesday when he made his delayed spring debut in the eighth inning of a B game against San Diego at Gene Autry Park in Mesa, Ariz.

“It seemed like it was 20, 30 feet longer to the plate,” Finley said. “I was a little nervous. Even if I wasn’t hurt, the first time I’d be nervous.”

His jitters weren’t apparent. Finley pitched two hitless innings, getting 19 strikes among his 28 pitches while finishing a 4-0 victory over the Padres.

“I wanted to see how it felt pitching with my adrenaline flowing,” said Finley, whose first six pitches were evenly divided between called and swinging strikes. “The more guys I faced, the more it came back to me.”

The discomfort he had felt as recently as last week didn’t come back, which encouraged Finley. “There’s some tenderness, and I’ve got to expect some more of that, but I can pitch with that,” he said.

Bryan Harvey bruised the inside of his right forearm when hit by a line drive off the bat of Greg Briley during the ninth inning of the Angels’ 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

The Angels resume exhibition play in Palm Springs Friday.