BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : First-Rate Battle at Second Base

Bobby Rose was in the lineup at second base Sunday after missing four games to rest his sore back and work on his hitting. But Manager Buck Rodgers said Rene Gonzales’ excellence in Rose’s absence will mean that Rose is going to take a temporary back seat to the utility player.

“Right now, I’m going with the hot bat of Rene Gonzales, and I’ll mix Bobby Rose in,” Rodgers said.

Gonzales, who started at third Sunday, is batting .354 and was eight for 15 in the first five games of the home stand. He was three for three with a double and a two-run home run Friday. Until a fifth-inning error Sunday, he was errorless in 20 games.

Rose is batting .209, with five hits in his last 41 at-bats.

“(Hitting instructor Rod Carew) is working with him to get that stroke back,” Rodgers said. “Right now, Gonzales has given us offense and defense out there. . . . Rene came in and took advantage of (the opportunity). I don’t think this is the time to switch back.

“It’s kind of like the situation at first base. We’ll go with the hot bat and see what happens down the line.”

Alvin Davis, batting .286 before the game, has started the past three games at first in placeof Lee Stevens, who is batting .207.

Outfielder Jose Gonzalez, whose contract was purchased from triple-A Edmonton so he could take Lance Parrish’s spot on the roster while the catcher is on the disabled list, replaced Luis Polonia in left field in the fifth inning after Polonia was ejected after arguing a pickoff call at first base. . . . Junior Felix, who slightly sprained his right ankle during Friday’s game, was limited to a ninth-inning pinch-hitting role Sunday, but Rodgers said Felix is “probable” for Tuesday night’s game against Detroit after an off-day today. . . . Don Robinson, eligible to come off the disabled list, hasn’t experienced any recurring stiffness in his back since throwing Friday.