Finley’s ’92 Debut Gets Mixed Review : Baseball: He gives up three homers in three innings of 10-4 Angel loss to Athletics.

The only pain Chuck Finley felt Wednesday came from the gnawing dissatisfaction of defeat, leading him to call his long-delayed season debut more successful than the outcome suggests.

Finley, who underwent surgery on his left big toe last December and reinjured it in the Angels’ final exhibition, felt not the slightest twinge in the toe during his three-inning stint in the Angels’ 10-4 loss to the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum.

“I’ve got to knock a little bit of the barnacles off,” Finley said, smiling. “I was a little rusty, but I felt fine and that was the main thing.”

His command erratic, Finley left the game after throwing 75 pitches. Three of those were hit into the left-field seats, two by Mark McGwire--who had not hit a home run against him in 24 at-bats--and one by Rickey Henderson.

Inconsistent though he was, Finley kept the game close and left with Oakland leading, 3-0. Things didn’t get out of hand until the fifth inning. Angel relievers gave up three hits and four walks and hit McGwire as Oakland sent 11 men to the plate and scored seven runs.

“It was a good news/bad news kind of thing,” Manager Buck Rodgers said of the outing by Finley, an 18-game winner in each of the last two seasons. “The good news was his toe didn’t bother him and his arm was fine. The bad news was the time off took its toll on his command. He threw 75 pitches, which is a five-inning total for a lot of pitchers, including Chuck. He’ll get better.”

Finley had to force himself to be patient through a frustrating spring and his stay on the disabled list. He was activated Wednesday morning, when Don Robinson was placed on the disabled list because of back spasms and an inflamed left hip. Although he had prepared diligently for his debut, Finley couldn’t simulate game conditions.

“It’s a totally different situation, throwing on the side for two weeks and throwing in a game. The intensity isn’t there, and you don’t have to work counts,” said Finley, who gave up four hits and two walks and struck out three. “If you throw a bad pitch on the side, you can grab it back. You can’t out there.

“For me, the biggest part was to go out there and get the feel of pitching. I wanted to see what I could do in a 1-and-2 count. I got behind on some counts, and I got some balls up a little bit, but I was pleased with the physical aspect of it. Everything else will take care of itself.”

McGwire took care of driving in the first run, powering a 1-and-0 pitch well over the 330-foot sign in left field to lead off the second inning. Henderson lined a 3-and-2 pitch to nearly the same location to open the third, and two outs later, McGwire hit a 1-and-2 pitch by Finley to left for his league-leading eighth homer and second multi-home run game of the season.

“They got three home runs and they can laugh and jump up and down, but give me three weeks and I’ll straighten all that out,” Finley said.

The A’s, who have defeated the Angels in 11 of their last 12 games, seemed glad to have faced Finley when he was at less than his best.

“He didn’t look like the Chuck Finley I’ve known--the Finley with the excellent fastball and breaking ball,” said Jose Canseco, who struck out both times he faced the Angel left-hander. “A lot of times I’ve seen him, he’s been overpowering, and he wasn’t today. He struggled with the strike zone.”

McGwire, who was four for 24 against Finley before Wednesday, also noted Finley’s rustiness. “He was a little bit out of the strike zone,” McGwire said. “He didn’t lose anything on his velocity when he was in the strike zone, though. He had good stuff.”

The Angels’ relievers were less successful. The Angels had narrowed Oakland’s lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning on a single by Rene Gonzales, an errant pickoff throw by Mike Moore (3-0), a ground out and Junior Felix’s single. Then the bullpen surrendered seven runs, the most productive inning by an opponent this season. Bases-loaded walks to Willie Wilson and Henderson and a two-run single by Lance Blankenship did most of the damage, as the pitching staff’s earned-run average on the nine-game trip soared from 1.72 to 2.66.

Despite the less-than-perfect ending to their three-city trip, the Angels were satisfied to come home with a 6-3 record.

“It was a pretty successful trip,” shortstop Gary DiSarcina said. “I think we grew together as a team, especially after that win in Texas against Jeff Russell (a ninth-inning rally for a 3-2 victory last Thursday). Basically, we just got whupped today. . . . The good thing was we got Chuck back. It’s good to know he’s back. He’s only going to get better from here on in.”