BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : Langston Gets Chased, but Not on Mound

Leave it to Angel second baseman Rex Hudler to add some levity to a drizzly Thursday afternoon in Tucson. After pitcher Mark Langston walked in the third inning of a 9-5 exhibition loss to the Colorado Rockies, Hudler lined a home run over the right-field fence.

Langston broke into a slow trot around second, but Hudler, sprinting around first because he wasn’t sure the ball had cleared the wall, hardly slowed down.

Langston glanced over his shoulder and, realizing Hudler might pass him, broke into a sprint between second and third, and the two continued their chase to the plate, as the crowd broke into laughter.

“I figured Mark isn’t on the basepaths too often, so I’m gonna make him run, and I chased him down,” Hudler said. “When he looked back at me, his eyes were as big as saucers. It was fun.”

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Manager Marcel Lachemann appears to be setting up his spring training rotation for left-hander Chuck Finley to start the season opener against the Milwaukee Brewers April 2. . . . Neither Ben VanRyn nor Willie Fraser, longshots to win bullpen jobs, improved his chance. VanRyn gave up four runs on two hits in the seventh inning and Fraser gave up four runs on five hits in the eighth, as the Angels blew a 5-1 lead. . . . Don Slaught, making a solid push to become the backup catcher, had an RBI single and sacrifice fly.