Angels Send the Dodgers Packing, 5-3 : Freeway Series: Home runs by Gaetti, Snow help overcome 3-1 deficit. L.A. returns to Florida for its season opener.

If Saturday’s Freeway Series finale against the Angels hadn’t come apart at the seams in the late going, maybe the Dodgers could have been content with a show of muscle.

As it is, they fly back to Florida today having sent mixed signals in their brief stay in the Southland.

For the most part, the Dodgers can say they blew into town, flexed their muscles for a second consecutive night against the Angels, then hit the road again.

But something about the Dodgers’ 5-3 loss to the Angels before 46,768 at Anaheim Stadium left one wondering if Friday’s easy victory was merely a tease.

Certainly, we will know more soon enough. Saturday’s game was the Dodgers’ final spring training game before they open the season against the expansion Florida Marlins Monday in Miami.

The Angels rallied from a 3-1 deficit, winning on pinch-hitter Gary Gaetti’s two-run home run in the eighth inning.

“A pinch-hit is always nice,” Gaetti said. “But a pinch-hit home run, I don’t care if it’s in the World Series or in a spring training game, it’s great.”

“He’s hit some home runs, but he’s not a home run hitter, he’s a line drive hitter,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said. “When he gets it all, though, he can hit it out of any place.”

J.T. Snow hit his first home run as an Angel in his first game at Anaheim Stadium, a solo shot in the fourth inning. He added a single in the seventh.

Darryl Strawberry hit a two-run home run against Angel starter Scott Sanderson in the fourth inning, and Eric Davis followed with a solo homer against Julio Valera in the sixth.

Dodger pitcher Pedro Astacio turned in his finest outing of the spring.

In six innings, Astacio gave up one run, four hits and struck out four. One of the hits was the homer by Snow.

The Dodgers’ trouble began when Astacio left and they had to rely on their bullpen to keep the Angels under wraps.

Neither team looked good on a play during the second inning.

Dodger third baseman Tim Wallach hit a smash at Angel second baseman Damion Easley, who jumped to snare the line drive. As Easley returned to earth, the ball fell out of his glove. Wallach apparently didn’t notice and began walking toward the Dodger dugout on the first-base side.

Teammates began yelling instructions at Easley and Wallach. Catcher John Orton frantically pointed at Easley to throw to first base, but when he did the ball sailed over Snow’s head and into the dugout.

Wallach dutifully took second, bringing Angel Manager Buck Rodgers out of the dugout to protest.

In the end, Wallach was ruled out for running out of the baseline and Easley was not charged with an error.

Freeway Series Notes

Left-handed pitcher Matt Young threw for the Dodgers for a second consecutive day, but there was no announcement of his being signed. After Young was released by the Boston Red Sox last week, the Dodgers would have to pay him the major league minimum of $109,000, with the Red Sox picking up the remainder of his $1.7 million contract. . . . The Dodgers sent pitcher Dera Clark to triple-A Albuquerque, and because of his status as a Rule V player, he was claimed by the Kansas City Royals.

Seeking to bolster their pitching depth, the Angels signed left-hander Otis Green to a minor league contract. Green, who cleared waivers Friday, is a former outfielder who decided his career wasn’t progressing as fast as he would have liked. This is only his third season as a pitcher. In seven games with the Milwaukee Brewers this spring, he had two saves and a 3.24 earned-run average in 8 1/3 innings. Last year, Green was 11-8 with a 4.61 ERA for the Brewers’ triple-A affiliate at Denver. He has never played in a major league game. . . . Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said the club considered signing Young but decided against it. “We’d rather go with somebody going in the other direction,” Rodgers said. . . . The Angels play host to the San Diego Padres at 1 p.m. today. John Farrell is scheduled to pitch for the Angels and Dave Eiland for the Padres.