BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Decision Monday on Owen Surgery

The team will decide Monday whether infielder Spike Owen, on the disabled list because of an injured left shoulder since July 7, will have surgery to repair a torn labrum, a structure in the shoulder joint.

Owen knew the injury would require surgery at some point, but was hoping to put it off until the end of the season. He took batting practice for the second consecutive day Saturday and still had a “biting sensation” when he swung.

“It was a little better today,” Owen said. “I’ll come back tomorrow and see how it feels. Hopefully, it’s positive.”

But he acknowledged: “I’m not doing anybody any good by staying inactive on the DL.”

Owen spent the All-Star break at home in Texas and did not travel with the Angels on their eight-game trip to Detroit, Cleveland and Toronto. He rejoined the club Friday.

“I didn’t do anything for 15 days and the pain is still there,” Owen said. “I’m trying to make adjustments to my swing where I don’t have the biting sensation and still be effective.”

The pain is especially acute when the switch-hitting Owen bats left handed.

“They don’t know how bad it is until they scope it,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “It’s not his throwing arm, it’s his left shoulder. Then again, they could go in and see they have to do more and he’s out six months.”

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Right-hander Scott Sanderson will probably undergo back surgery, Lachemann said. Sanderson, 1-3 with a 4.12 earned-run average in seven starts, has been on the disabled list since June 6 and hasn’t pitched since May 31.

Sanderson, who also had back surgery in 1988, has been discussing his options with Dr. Lewis Yocum.

The news is better on Mike Bielecki and Shawn Boskie, two other starters on the disabled list.

Bielecki, sidelined because of an inflamed right shoulder, is scheduled to begin throwing on Monday. Boskie, sidelined because of an inflamed right elbow, has been playing catch the last few days.

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Bob Patterson, the Angels’ only left-handed reliever, sprained his left ankle while jogging near his home Saturday morning and was unable to pitch.

Patterson had pitched in five of the past eight games and had given up no runs on two hits.