Valera Makes Most of Outing : Angels: On eve of probable demotion, relief pitcher takes over for Robinson during 3-2 victory over the Athletics.

All signs pointed toward a demotion to Edmonton today for Julio Valera, until Don Robinson’s creaky body gave Valera a chance the young right-hander didn’t waste.

After Robinson was forced out of the game because of spasms in the lower-right area of his back and a sore left hip, Valera held the Athletics scoreless for four innings Tuesday and was the winning pitcher in the Angels’ 3-2 victory at the Oakland Coliseum.

Valera, who probably was headed to Edmonton when Chuck Finley was activated off the disabled list, instead will stay because Robinson will be placed on the DL today. That will mark the eighth stint on the DL for Robinson in his 15 seasons.

Robinson’s hip problem is a chronic arthritic condition. The back spasms, however, are a new ailment. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out three in four innings.

Valera (1-1) gave up one hit and struck out two as the Angels ended a 10-game losing streak against the A’s dating to April 18, 1991. They had lost seven consecutive games in Oakland since Oct. 3, 1990.

Home runs by Lee Stevens and Rene Gonzales provided two of the Angels’ runs. They also scored without a hit, during the third, when Oakland starter Dave Stewart (1-1) gave up four walks and a sacrifice fly.

The Angels improved their record on this nine-game trip to 6-2. Bryan Harvey struck out the side in the ninth to earn his fourth save and improve the Angels’ record in one-run games to 2-5.

The Angels scored first, on Stevens’ leadoff homer during the second inning, but the A’s got a run in the bottom of the inning. The Angels regained the lead in the third without a hit and stymied the A’s attempt to answer again.

Stevens didn’t wait to see what Stewart had to offer. He lined the right-hander’s first pitch to him into the stands in right-center field for his second home run of the season and second on this road trip. That ended Stewart’s consecutive scoreless-innings streak at 16.

The lead didn’t last long. Mark McGwire, who was three for 28 after a torrid start, doubled down the left-field line to open the bottom of the second. He tagged and took third on Jamie Quirk’s fly ball to right, and scored when Robinson’s first pitch to Lance Blankenship bounced in front of catcher Mike Fitzgerald and eluded him. Fitzgerald pursued the ball and threw from his knees to Robinson, who was covering home, but Robinson couldn’t make the tag in time.

Robinson ended the inning without further difficulty, and his teammates rewarded him by taking a 2-1 lead during the third. Gary DiSarcina and Luis Polonia drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. They waited while Stewart slipped a third strike past Junior Felix, but Stewart walked Von Hayes on a 3- and-2 pitch to load the bases. Hubie Brooks followed with a fly to the warning track in center, deep enough for DiSarcina to score easily.

Stevens walked to load the bases again, but Stewart got Fitzgerald to pop up behind third to limit the Angels to a single run.

Gonzales’ homer, a 2-and-0 drive to left, increased the Angels’ lead to 3-1. The homer was Gonzales’ second, the first time since 1988 he had hit that many in a season.

Again, the A’s responded in the bottom of the inning. With one out, McGwire hit a 2-and-2 pitch over the fence in right-center for his sixth home run of the season. Quirk reached when Rose kicked away his easy grounder for an error, Rose’s fifth this season. Robinson struck out Blankenship but Mike Bordick bunted for a hit, moving Quirk into scoring position. Mike Kingery followed with a grounder to second that Rose scooped and double-clutched before throwing to first to end the inning.

Stewart was relieved by left-hander Vince Horsman after giving up a leadoff single to Polonia during the seventh. The inning became an adventure after Polonia moved to third on Junior Felix’s sacrifice and to third on an error charged to Quirk on a bizarre play: Quirk was lobbing the ball back to the mound after a pitch, but Horsman had his head down and didn’t see the ball. It bounced past him and into short center, Polonia taking third.

Despite that gift, the Angels couldn’t capitalize. Hayes bounced to second and Brooks was walked intentionally and Stevens grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.