Dickson Has More Than Baseball on Mind

Angel pitcher Jason Dickson took the Kingdome mound Sunday with the initials of his late grandfather, Lorriston Dickson, inscribed on the back of his cap and memories of Lorriston’s funeral fresh on his mind.

“It’s tough--that’s the first wake and funeral I’ve ever been to,” said Dickson, who returned to Canada just before the All-Star break for last week’s services. “He lived next door to me and I saw him every day. It’s really tough knowing he’s not going to be around.

“He was 86, he lived a great life and was very active. I just wanted him to know that he’s still with me, that I’m still thinking about him.”

Dickson, who hadn’t pitched since July 2, ended a three-game losing streak Sunday, giving up four runs on seven hits in six innings to improve to 9-6. His velocity was good, but the long layoff seemed to affect Dickson’s control. “I felt really strong, and I think that’s why I wasn’t getting the sink on my fastball that I expected,” Dickson said. “I wasn’t impressive by any means, but it’s a win.”

Dickson threw only 72 pitches, but Manager Terry Collins pulled him after the sixth in favor of Shigetoshi Hasegawa. Dickson gave up solo homers to Dan Wilson in the fourth and Jay Buhner in the sixth, and two of Seattle’s outs in the fifth were liners to third baseman Dave Hollins.

“Jason battled well, and when there were runners on, he made some good pitches,” Collins said. “But he made some bad pitches over the middle of the plate, and they don’t miss those. He went through the lineup three times, and I figured that was enough. I wanted to give them another look.”

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After Ken Griffey Jr. homered against the Angels Thursday and Friday night, pushing his league-leading home run total to 37, the Angels handled the All-Star center fielder with extreme caution Sunday. Griffey walked twice, blooped a single to right-center, singled to left and flied to right.

“I wasn’t going to pitch him inside,” Dickson said. “Even if he went four for four with four opposite-field singles, that would have been fine with me. We weren’t going to let him beat us.”

Collins had Rich DeLucia walk Griffey intentionally to lead off the ninth inning of 3-3 game Friday night, and he called for the Griffey shift in the fifth inning Sunday, moving Hollins to the shortstop hole and shortstop Gary DiSarcina to the right side of second base. Griffey singled to left.

“He said he was going to bunt against us once this series,” Collins said. “I said, ‘Heck yeah, let him bunt.’ Go ahead. Do me a favor. . . .I know Mark McGwire has a chance to hit 60 home runs, but this guy [Griffey] is going to hit 60 because he’s locked in and has great hitters behind him.”

ON DECK

Opponent--Oakland Athletics, two games.

Site--Oakland Coliseum.

Tonight--7 p.m.

TV--Channel 9 tonight and Tuesday.

Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090), KIK-FM (94.3).

Records--Angels 51-39, A’s 42-48.

Record vs. A’s--3-3.

ANGELS’ JARROD WASHBURN (4-1, 3.60 ERA) vs. ATHLETICS’ MIKE OQUIST (5-5, 5.67 ERA)

Update--Left-hander Allen Watson is expected to be activated off of the disabled list today and inserted into the Angel bullpen. The Angels got another strong contribution Sunday from left fielder Orlando Palmeiro. Palmeiro singled and scored in both the second and sixth innings, and he made a long run toward the line to catch Shane Monahan’s fly ball to end the second. Palmeiro is batting .412.

Tuesday, 12:15 p.m.--Omar Olivares (5-5, 3.82) vs. Kenny Rogers (8-3, 3.05).