Finley Ends Rehabilitation in Style

Chuck Finley labored through one inning Thursday, then looked to be just what the Angels need--a quality starting pitcher.

Finley, making his second rehabilitation start for Class A Lake Elsinore, walked three batters and gave up two runs in the first inning against Visalia. He finished his five-inning stint by retiring nine of the last 10 batters.

Finley will rejoin the Angels today and will pitch Tuesday in New York.

“It was good to go out and struggle a little,” he said. “I don’t think it would have helped me to go and mow through them.”

Finley, who suffered a broken bone below his right eye in a freak batting practice accident March 15, was scheduled for six innings or 90 pitches. He threw 82, 30 in the first inning, and left after the fifth.

He gave up three hits, none after the second inning, walked four and struck out four. He also yielded an unearned run in the second.

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Finley said the only lasting problem from the injury is a loss of hearing in his right ear. He will see a specialist when the Angels return from their current trip.

“I hear an echo in that ear,” Finley said. “When I’m talking it kind of rattles around in there. I’ll be OK. I never listen to the coach when he comes out to the mound anyway.”

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Angel woes followed team President Tony Tavares on Wednesday night. He was watching the Mighty Ducks play the Kings at the Pond, when the scoreboard flashed the Angel score--a 12-0 New York Yankee lead.

Tavares said he called upstairs to those in charge of scoreboard and said, “Do me a favor and keep baseball off that thing. I want to enjoy this game tonight.”

The Ducks won, 4-1, to clinch their first winning season. The Angels lost, 12-5.

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Closer Troy Percival will undergo more testing on his right shoulder. On Wednesday he was put on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 7, after tests revealed a nerve condition in his right shoulder.

So who is the Angels’ closer? Depends on who you ask.

Manager Terry Collins said it was Mike James.

James said it was everybody.

“I don’t think it’ll be one guy, the way Troy is,” James said. “I think they’ll go more and more with what the situation is. . . . It will be more closer-by-committee.”