Ozzie Guillen won’t reap the benefits--the Chicago...

Ozzie Guillen won’t reap the benefits--the Chicago White Sox are done playing the Angels this season--but the shortstop will be glad to hear that groundskeepers will give Anaheim Stadium’s infield a makeover next week.

Representatives of the Phoenix-area company that supplies dirt for the infield were in town Friday, conferring with Angel infielders and front-office officials in preparation for their next project: renovating the dirt portion of the field during the team’s next trip.

A bad-hop grounder bounced over Guillen’s head in the 13th inning of a June 17 game, giving the Angels a 9-8 victory. Guillen said the field was not “in big league shape,” and Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina concurred.

“I’ll be relieved when it’s fixed,” DiSarcina said. “When there’s a lot of traffic it gets real powdery--you can’t replace the divots, and the ball bounces every which way. It’s an infield you have to battle. You’re just happy when you catch a ball cleanly.”

Kevin Uhlich, Angel director of operations, said more clay will be mixed with the existing decomposed granite in an effort to firm up the infield.

*

Thursday night’s 18-2 loss to Oakland seemed the perfect time for struggling Jim Abbott to pitch out of the bullpen. But the left-hander was not available because Manager Marcel Lachemann, believing Abbott would not be needed, put him through an extensive pregame workout.

“We figured with Shawn [Boskie] pitching Thursday and Chuck [Finley] going [Friday], we’d take a gamble and work Jim more than usual,” Lachemann said. “Some things have to be done at a higher rate, so we needed to give him a longer workout.”

Abbott made his first relief appearance Friday, pitching a hitless ninth inning.

*

Lachemann said when center fielder Jim Edmonds (sprained right thumb) comes off the disabled list, Darin Erstad probably will return to triple-A Vancouver. “He’d only stay if he could play every day,” Lachemann said. “He’s not going to sit.” . . . Randy Velarde’s fifth-inning double Friday night extended his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games, and DiSarcina’s third-inning single extended his streak to a career-best 12 games. . . . Thursday night’s 16-run loss equaled the largest in team history, matching an 18-2 loss to Texas on June 17, 1993.