BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Family, Friends Provide Extra Incentive

Rookie starter Phil Leftwich really wanted to impress his friends and family who made the six-hour drive from Lynchburg, Va., to see him pitch for the first time in the major leagues. He didn’t win, but they saw first-hand why Leftwich has only a 3.43 ERA despite making five impressive starts.

“Most of the people told me I need to get traded,” Leftwich said, “or give them (his teammates) money. We’ve got a pretty young team, and we’re not doing the little things to win. I think my family still went away impressed, though, except for maybe the people sitting in left field. They didn’t see too much.”

Leftwich yielded seven hits and three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings in the 95-degree heat, but saw his 4-2 lead in the seventh evaporate two pitches later when Harold Baines hit an opposite-field homer off left-hander Ken Patterson.

“I couldn’t live with myself if he had hit the homer off Leftwich,” Manager Buck Rodgers said. “Our bullpen was pretty bad today. Everybody I brought in there was bad. I was going to take him out after seven innings anyway, but then I figured if I’m going to take him out at the end of the seventh, I might as well not let Baines take a shot off him since I had a left-hander warmed up. Of course, that was figuring my left-hander could keep the ball in the ballpark. “I was about 0 for 11 in those decisions today.”

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It was a cruel twist of fate that shortstop Gary DiSarcina broke his thumb at Camden Yards. After all, Baltimore Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken has seen them come and go the last 11 years, while he has played every day.

“That’s what makes his streak (1,863 games) so amazing,” Rodgers said. “Ripken has been very fortunate to avoid any kind of injury.”

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Rodgers confirmed that Chuck Finley and Mark Langston each will start on three days’ rest against the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend, avoiding the need for an emergency starter because of today’s doubleheader. It also allows them to start next weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays.

“It’s not that I’m loading up for Toronto,” Rodgers said, “but I’m trying to get as many starts as possible for Finley and Langston.”