BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Good News Despite Loss

The light bulbs on the scoreboard revealed yet another Angel defeat Friday afternoon, but Manager Buck Rodgers popped out of the dugout as if Ed McMahon just announced his name as a lottery winner.

“Would you believe this is the best day we had in camp?” said Rodgers, ignoring the Seattle Mariners’ 13-5 victory.

In a spring in which the Angels have been desperately looking for anyone to emerge as fourth and fifth starters in their rotation, two finally jumped into the forefront.

Starter Russ Springer, in perhaps his best performance since joining the Angels, yielded one hit and struck out six in four innings of the morning B game against the Colorado Rockies.

For an encore, starter John Dopson yielded two hits and struck out six in the A game against the Mariners at the Peoria Sports Complex.

And as a bonus, starter Joe Magrane pitched off the mound for the first time since undergoing arthroscopic surgery last month on his left elbow.

“If you forget about the scoreboard, this has been the best day of spring,” Rodgers said. “It’s the best I’ve ever seen Russ Springer. It was just a huge outing for him. And Dopson threw the best I’ve seen in a year.”

Springer was relegated to the B game as punishment, Rodgers said, letting him know the organization hardly has been pleased with his performance. Springer responded by facing the minimum 12 batters, allowing only two balls out of the infield.

“I had one bad outing on a rainy day, and one good outing on a good day,” Springer said, “so neither is going to make me or break me. All I can do is pitch. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know who’s in the running for this.”

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Just how bad has the Angel pitching staff been this spring?

They have given up 75 runs, 112 hits, 29 doubles, six triples and 13 homers in eight games--for a 9.40 earned-run average.

The opposition is hitting .364, with at least 11 hits in every game.

If not for Bo Jackson’s grand slam in the eighth inning of their Cactus League opener against Colorado, the Angels (1-7) would be winless.

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Outfielder Dwight Smith will sing the national anthem on Thursday against the Chicago Cubs, his former team. “I’m looking forward to it already,” he said. . . . The Angels optioned six players to their minor league camp: pitchers Troy Percival, Ron Watson, John Fritz and Bob Gamez, and catchers Fausto Tejero and Jose Monzon. . . . Bo Jackson continues his impressive spring, going two for four and raising his batting average to .421. . . . Angel left-hander Craig Lefferts gave up six hits, six earned runs and two homers in two-thirds of an inning, endangering his job security.