BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : No Cuts Until He Gets Nicked

If Angel reliever Troy Percival looks like Howard Stern in late September, it will have been an incredible season for the right-hander. Percival, who shaved his head in spring training, has vowed not to get a haircut until he gives up a run.

Forever? “If need be,” said Percival, who pitched a scoreless ninth Saturday night and has not given up a run since last Sept. 19 or a hit since April 20. “If it gets a little too ugly up top I may trim it, but I’m going to let it go for a while.”

Percival, whose hair has grown back to about normal length, said this is yet another baseball superstition.

“You don’t give up any runs, you don’t want to change anything,” said Percival, who has 11 saves. “I’ll run with these shoes until they have holes in them, wear the same socks . . . it’s nothing new.”

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After getting bombed against the Indians on Friday, Dennis Springer may get a second chance, but it may not be for another week and a half. With two off days next week, Manager Marcel Lachemann will go with a four-man rotation during the next trip.

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Mark Langston, who underwent surgery Tuesday to have torn cartilage removed from his right knee, said he “felt great” Saturday and was walking without a limp. The left-hander hopes to return before the projected six- to eight-week absence. “Six to eight weeks,” he said, “those numbers are just too big for me.”