Angels’ 4-1 Victory Is Overshadowed : Baseball: Wathan leaves for Iowa to be by father’s bedside after he suffers brain hemorrhage. Valera beats Brewers.

An Angel season already marred by the May 21 bus accident that cost them the guidance of Manager Buck Rodgers for three months and by the death of bench coach Deron Johnson took another sad turn Monday when interim manager John Wathan learned his 80-year-old father had collapsed and was in intensive care Monday night at a hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Wathan left for his father’s bedside immediately after the Angels’ 4-1 victory over the Brewers before 20,093 at Anaheim Stadium. Pitching coach Marcel Lachemann will manage the team in upcoming days.

Jim Wathan collapsed at his home and was found by a neighbor, who performed CPR. He was believed to have suffered a brain hemorrhage.

“This has been a screwy year so far, so nothing should be unexpected,” Manager Buck Rodgers said. “It’s a very serious situation. Marcel Lachemann will handle the club for 24 for 48 hours for John to get done whatever he has to do. Marcel has got to be the interim for the interim.”

Might not Rodgers return to the dugout now?

“No, I haven’t got the pulse of the club, these guys have it,” he said.

Julio Valera (6-9) gave up a personal-low three hits in his first complete game since June 20 and only his second victory in 10 starts. Luis Polonia took over the American League stolen base lead with two steals, giving him 40 for the season, and scored two runs. Luis Sojo twice drove in Polonia after a steal, giving the Angels a potent one-two punch at the top of their lineup.

Brewer shortstop Pat Listach also stole two bases and is tied for second in steals with Baltimore’s Brady Anderson.

The Brewers dropped 5 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Blue Jays as Bill Wegman (10-9), who hasn’t won at Anaheim Stadium since Sept. 19, 1988, took the loss.

Both teams used one of their favorite weapons--speed--in the early innings, and it paid off in a run for the Angels.

Brewer leadoff hitter Pat Listach drew a walk and stole second, but had nowhere to go when Darryl Hamilton lined to short. Listach moved to third on Paul Molitor’s grounder to second, but former Angel Dante Bichette left him there when he fouled out to catcher Mike Fitzgerald.

Polonia followed Listach’s example in the bottom of the inning, starting the inning with a walk and a steal. But Polonia found his way home, taking third when catcher B.J. Surhoff’s throw bounced into center field and scoring on Sojo’s single to left.

Gary Gaetti kept the inning going when he singled to left, moving Sojo to third, but Von Hayes bounced into a double play to end the inning.

During the third inning, Listach dumped a single into short left field that Rob Ducey decided to play on a short hop. Listach stole second, but was left there when third baseman Rene Gonzales made a good play on Hamilton’s sharp bouncer for the third out.

Listach’s single was the only Brewer hit against Valera in the first five innings, and his walk was the only one by the Angel right-hander. Valera had three strikeouts.

The Polonia-Sojo combination worked again during the fifth inning, when the Angels extended their lead to 4-0.

Polonia started the inning with an opposite-field double to left, and he stole third for his 40th steal of the season, the ninth-highest single-season total in Angel history . He scored when Sojo chopped a 1-and-1 pitch up the middle for a single, Sojo’s 27th RBI of the season.

Junior Felix followed with a double to right, moving Sojo to third, and Wegman loaded the bases when he hit Gaetti on the left arm.

Hayes again bounced into a double play, but Sojo scored and Felix went to third. Gonzales, who had singled in his first at-bat and walked in his second, doubled down the left-field line on a 2-and-1 count this time, scoring Felix. Ducey ended the inning by striking out on a 3-and-2 pitch.

The Brewers followed the Angels’ example in the sixth by scoring on a double play, but the Angels held them to that single run.

Scott Fletcher doubled, went to third when Listach singled to center and scored on Hamilton’s double-play grounder.