DiSarcina Lifts Angels to Freeway Sweep : Baseball: His winning RBI in a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers helps team come out of spring on a positive note.

On another day, the compelling news from the Freeway Series finale might have been Gary DiSarcina’s winning run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth that gave the Angels a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers.

But Darryl Strawberry’s temporary disappearance overshadowed all other events on Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

Strawberry simply didn’t show up, didn’t phone and team officials didn’t know his whereabouts until late Sunday night.

On the field, DiSarcina saved the Angels twice in leading them to a three-game sweep and some much-needed momentum going into opening day Tuesday at Minnesota.

First, he made a diving stop on Tim Wallach’s hard-hit grounder in the sixth. Later, he delivered a one-out, bases-loaded single through the drawn-in infield and into right field to score Eduardo Perez with the winning run.

It left the Angels feeling good about themselves despite a 10-19 spring training record, and some shoddy, ninth-inning relief pitching from Joe Grahe on Sunday.

Grahe gave up a solo home run to Mitch Webster that hooked around the right-field foul pole, and a run-scoring sacrifice fly by Jose Offerman that allowed the Dodgers to pull even, 4-4, in the ninth. Grahe got the victory, his second of the spring, by avoiding further trouble.

“You can’t build on this,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said. “But this is the way you want to come out of the spring. Blowing the lead in the ninth had pluses and minuses, but the pluses outweighed the minuses because it’s good for the ballclub to come back after losing the lead.”

There were other positive Angel developments, including Chili Davis’ first home run of the spring, a two-run shot to left-center in the fourth inning, and starter Mark Leiter’s six strong innings.

“I thought I threw better in the last game in Arizona than today,” Leiter said. “But velocity-wise I was pretty pleased.”

Leiter, who gave up five hits and two runs with one strikeout and three walks, was grateful for DiSarcina’s defensive support.

“I’ve always enjoyed watching DiSarcina,” he said. “It’s a great defense here. To see that kind of defense is outstanding. It gives you more confidence on the mound.”

In the ninth, Perez led off with an infield single, then went to second on a single to center by Greg Myers. After Harold Reynolds sacrificed and Spike Owen was walked intentionally, loading the bases, DiSarcina singled off reliever Jim Gott.

“It’s nice to have this over and start playing regular games,” Rodgers said. “It’s always gratifying to sweep the Dodgers because of the rivalry between these two clubs.”