Angels Spring Forth With Dodgers’ Help

According to an old baseball theory, the ideal spring is one in which a team gets a look at all of its players and winds up with a record that is a little over .500. Any better than that against players who might not even make a big league roster and a team starts to think it is better than it really is. Any worse than that and a team starts to see problems where none exist.

So, the best thing the Dodgers and Angels can do after Saturday night’s 7-6 Angel victory at Dodger Stadium is to keep telling themselves: It’s only the spring. It’s only the spring.

That might stop the Dodgers from concerning themselves with:

* The back-to-back errors they made in the ninth inning--by shortstop Juan Castro and right fielder Garey Ingram--that helped the Angels put together the two-run, game-winning rally.

* Another shaky pitching performance by Hideo Nomo, who entered the game with an 8.25 earned-run average and, after being given a 6-0 lead, left after five innings, having given up five runs, three of them earned.

And the Angels could avoid concerning themselves with the six runs given up by starter Ken Hill in six innings, including a first-inning grand slam by Paul Konerko in his first start at Dodger Stadium.

“It’s a spring game,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “A lot of times, it’s not pretty.”

It wasn’t Friday or Saturday for the Angels.

Add Hill’s performance to those turned in by Chuck Finley and Allen Watson in Friday’s 8-1 Angel loss at Edison International Field and you have three-fifths of the Angels’ starting rotation blasted for 14 runs in 12 innings with four home runs surrendered.

“I’ll get concerned if they’re getting clobbered next week,” Collins said. “Kenny got off to a slow start, but he’s been great all spring. He’s allowed to have one bad outing.”

Indeed, Hill entered the game with a 2-2 spring mark, but a sparkling 2.33 ERA.

Spring training numbers have the shelf life of the losing numbers on a lottery ticket.

But that said, Konerko can still take some satisfaction from his numbers the last two nights. In the two games, he hit three homers and drove in eight runs.

Perhaps just as satisfying to Konerko and the Dodgers was a seemingly routine play leading off the top of the fifth inning when Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina hit a ground ball to Eric Young. Young’s throw pulled Konerko off the bag, but the first baseman coolly tagged DiSarcina as the Angel runner raced by, looking like the smooth fielder the Dodgers are hoping Konerko will become.

“You’ve got to like him,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said of his rookie first baseman. “He doesn’t seem nervous at all. Konerko’s hot spring is great for the ballclub. This is not a fluke. He’s for real.”

Others who could draw satisfaction from their performance Saturday were Angel outfielder Jim Edmonds, who had a double, a home run and three RBIs, and Dodger outfielder Todd Hollandsworth, who had two singles, a double and an RBI.

The Angel rally in the ninth began with a one-out single by Frank Bolick off Scott Radinsky, who took the loss. After a passed ball moved Bolick to second, Castro’s error on a ball hit by Chip Hale scored Bolick to tie the score.

After Ingram’s error put Damon Mashore aboard, a squeeze play by Steve Scarsone failed with Hale getting tagged out.

But then Scarsone hit a ball to deep short and legged it out as Mashore came home with what proved to be the winning run.

“Well, I got kind of lucky on that one,” Scarsone said. “It was one of those placement things. It was slow enough to allow me to get to first.”

A Dodger threat in the bottom of the ninth fell short, giving the victory to Troy Percival.

But at least the Dodgers could keep telling themselves: It’s only the spring. It’s only the spring.