BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Boskie Sharp, Sanderson Not

Shawn Boskie doesn’t have the luxury of having a spring outing like Scott Sanderson, who pitched two-plus innings Sunday, got knocked around for five runs on eight hits and passed it off as a start in which he was “just working on my location, getting my rhythm.”

Boskie’s record is spotty--he pitched for three organizations in 1994--so if he is to have any chance of cracking the Angels’ starting rotation or earning a spot in their bullpen he’ll have to be as sharp in every appearance as he was Sunday.

Relieving Sanderson with runners on first and third in the third inning against the Oakland Athletics, Boskie struck out Terry Steinbach and got Brent Gates to hit into a double play.

Boskie pitched three more innings, giving up only three hits and striking out five, and Chili Davis hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Angels to a 9-7 victory before 2,225 in Tempe Diablo Stadium.

“Scott is an established pitcher who has put up the numbers,” said Boskie, 28, a right-hander who has spent the past five years shuttling between triple- A and the major leagues. “He just has to get physically ready, whereas I have to prove I can be a useful commodity on this team.”

Sanderson, 38, a right-hander and 16-year big-league veteran who signed a minor league contract last week, didn’t show much Sunday. After retiring the side in the first, eight of the next 10 batters got hits.

He was hardly concerned, though.

“I felt comfortable, strong, healthy, and those are pluses,” said Sanderson, who went 8-4 with a 5.09 ERA for the Chicago White Sox last season. “I know I can still pitch, and I think the Angels know that too.”

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Manager Marcel Lachemann and Angel front-office executives will meet tonight to evaluate the 51 players in camp and make some preliminary decisions about who will make the team’s 28-man roster.

There are still questions. Who will fill out the starting rotation behind Mark Langston, Chuck Finley and Brian Anderson? Who will fill the middle relief roles?

Do they opt for more power (Rob Deer) or contact (Ricky Jordan) in their pinch-hitters? Do they carry a veteran backup catcher (Andy Allanson) or a youngster (Mark Dalesandro) who can catch and play several field positions?

But perhaps the toughest question: What to do with Garret Anderson? The 22-year-old outfielder has dominated triple-A pitching for two seasons, and after Sunday’s two-hit, two-RBI performance, he has six hits in 10 spring at-bats with five RBIs.

Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds and Tony Phillips are the probable outfield starters, so the Angels must decide whether to keep Anderson as a reserve or send him to Vancouver, where he can play every day.

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Center fielder Jim Edmonds, who has missed the last three exhibition games because of a minor knee injury, said he expects to return to the lineup Tuesday or Wednesday. . . . Left-handed reliever Bob Patterson, a non-roster invitee to camp, gave up no hits and struck out three in two innings Sunday, and right-hander Mike Butcher pitched the ninth to gain the victory.