One Day Off Means Two More for Sanderson

Manager Marcel Lachemann took advantage of Friday night’s postponement in Chicago to juggle his pitching rotation, a move that will give injured starter Scott Sanderson two more days to recover from a groin strain.

Jason Grimsley, who was scheduled to start Friday night, will pitch Monday night against the White Sox instead of Sanderson, who left Wednesday night’s game against Milwaukee in the fourth inning. Jim Abbott will start tonight against Chicago and Chuck Finley will pitch Sunday, as scheduled.

Mark Langston will start Tuesday night in Oakland, and the Angels hope Sanderson will be ready to pitch Wednesday night against the Athletics.

Chicago’s Kirk McCaskill, who was scheduled to pitch Friday, will not start against the Angels. Instead, the White Sox will retain the original rotation of Alex Fernandez tonight, James Baldwin Sunday and Wilson Alvarez Monday.

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Tony Phillips, the fire-breathing Angel leadoff batter in 1995, is at it again in Chicago. The White Sox have won four consecutive games since Phillips, their left fielder, threw a locker-room tirade after Sunday’s 6-5 loss to Oakland.

Phillips reportedly threw clubhouse furniture and screamed at his teammates, saying, “We shouldn’t have lost that game! We shouldn’t have lost that game!”

Phillips, who is batting .308 with 17 runs batted in, also publicly suggested that pitcher Jason Bere’s problems may be more mental than physical.

“Tell people the truth, and it hurts,” White Sox shortstop Ozzie Guillen told the Chicago Tribune. “People don’t want to hear the truth. Jason’s elbow bothers him, but I agree with Tony. You’ve got to believe in your stuff. Everybody in baseball believes he’s a good pitcher.”

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Several White Sox officials and players, among them catcher Ron Karkovice, conducted a bone marrow drive in the Chicago area Friday in honor of Michelle Carew, the daughter of Angel batting instructor Rod Carew who died of leukemia last week. . . . John Sevano, Angel vice president for media relations, was able to get five tickets from the Chicago Bulls for Friday night’s playoff game against the Miami Heat. Jim Edmonds, Garret Anderson, George Arias, Mike James and Mark Holzemer attended the game in the United Center.