ANGELS : Reliever Patterson Picked Up; Padres Win Last Exhibition Game

The Angels finally found their left-handed reliever Sunday, and, just as threatened, went to the waiver wire for their pickup.

Ken Patterson, 28, who was released last week by the Houston Astros after pitching the last four seasons for the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs, signed a one-year major league contract. He has a 13-7 record and 3.73 earned-run average in 177 relief appearances, and had allowed 10 hits and three earned runs in nine innings this spring.

“Our scouts told us that he’s a guy who should be able to help us,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said, “and he’s better than anything we’ve got right now.”

The acquisition of Patterson allowed the Angels to send left-handed relievers Jerry Nielsen (6.59 ERA) and Mark Holzemer (2.92 ERA) to triple-A Vancouver after the Angels’ 6-4 loss to the San Diego Padres at Anaheim Stadium in the final Cactus League game of the spring.

The Angels completed their pitching staff by placing right-handed reliever Scott Lewis on the 15-day disabled list with a bruised right elbow, leaving right-handers Gene Nelson and Chuck Crim on the roster. They also sent Otis Green, acquired Saturday off waivers, to Vancouver.

“I tried to throw on the side during the Freeway Series,” Lewis said, “but I just couldn’t go.”

Lewis, who was hit in the elbow March 31 by the Milwaukee Brewers’ Kevin Reimer, was examined Sunday by Dr. Lewis Yocum and X-rays of his elbow were negative.

“I thought for sure he’d broken his elbow. I realize now how much it took to break mine,” Rodgers said.

Jerome Walton, the 1989 National League Rookie of the Year, beat out Ty Van Burkleo for the final roster spot.

“It was a great feeling when Buck told me I made the team,” said Walton, the 1989 National League Rookie of the Year for the Cubs. “I didn’t want to get too excited on the outside, but inside, I’m going crazy.

“It’s like being a rookie all over again. I can’t wait to tell my family that I’m back in the big leagues.”

Walton, who batted .256 this spring, said he’s grateful to the Angels for allowing him the opportunity to showcase his skills, and perhaps most important, dispel rumors about his image.

“I showed people I do have a good attitude,” Walton said. “I had the label of having a bad attitude, but that was because they just had me backed in a corner in Chicago.”

Van Burkleo, who only two weeks ago was a lock to make the opening-day roster, faltered too badly down the stretch for the Angels to keep him. Van Burkleo, who has spent the last 11 years in the minor leagues or Japan, finished the spring with only one hit in his final 16 at-bats, dropping his batting average to .217. He was sent to triple-A Vancouver.

“Two weeks ago, it looked like he had the team made,” Rodgers said, “but he just lost his stroke. He put too much pressure on himself. He’s got to get his stroke back.”

Said Van Burkleo: “I picked a wrong time not to swing the bat well. I don’t know what happened, I just wasn’t being as selective at the plate as I was before. I think I just tried to do too much.”

Although Holzemer and Nielsen are heading to the same place, one proved to be one of the biggest surprises of the spring. The other was one of the camp’s biggest disappointments.

“The one we expected the least from,” Rodgers said of Holzemer, “showed us the most. And the one we expected the most from, showed us the least.

“I think by July, we’ll have a major league pitcher on our hands. I think this spring was invaluable to (Holzemer). He’s a different young man that first walked into camp. . . .

“With Nielsen, we expected more. His command was no good. He’s got a good arm, but he walked the ballpark.”

Said Nielsen, who allowed 18 hits and an alarming 13 walks in 13 2/3 innings: “As far as I’m concerned, the Angels never saw the real Jerry Nielsen. I dug myself a hole by walking so many guys, and never got out of it.”

Holzemer, on the other hand, showed the Angels that he will be worth watching.

“I know I made at impression,” Holzemer said. “Heck, Buck didn’t even know who I was when I first came to camp.”

Angel Notes

Buoyed by first baseman J.T. Snow’s late-spring surge, Manager Buck Rodgers is considering moving Snow from the fifth spot to third in his opening-day lineup, and dropping Tim Salmon to fifth. Snow finished the spring going seven for 18 (.389) with five RBIs, while Salmon went five for 22 (.227) with one RBI. “I’ll think about it and come up with a decision (today),” Rodgers said. “The only concerns I have is that (Chad) Curtis and Salmon are struggling offensively right now.” . . . Curtis, the Angels’ opening-day center fielder, ended the spring in a three-for-25 drought, and batted .197 overall. . . . Angel reliever Joe Grahe has been unable to pitch because of a stiff neck, but is expected to be ready today. . . . Padre chairman Tom Werner met for nearly an hour before Sunday’s game with General Manager Joe McIlvaine, right fielder Tony Gwynn, pitcher Bruce Hurst, pitcher Andy Benes and first baseman Fred McGriff. Werner wanted to convey ownership’s side of the payroll slashing since last August, emphasizing that they’re not trying to dismantle the team. . . . .McIlvaine said the Padres are interested in re-acquiring left-handed reliever Mark Davis, who was released Saturday by the Atlanta Braves. Davis, who’s in the final year of his four-year, $13-million contract, won the Cy Young Award in 1989 for the Padres. If Davis clears waivers, as expected, any club can negotiate with him, possibly signing him for the minimum $109,000. . . . Angel reliever Julio Valera, who pitched in a game Saturday for the first time since March 20 because of a tender right elbow, said he felt no discomfort Sunday.