Olivares Finds the Cutting Edge

Pitching coach Dick Pole played dumb at first. “I don’t know anything about it,” he said. Joe Coleman, bullpen coach: “My lips are sealed.” Sorry, guys. The cat--or, rather, the cut--is out of the bag.

That pitch Omar Olivares has used to jam left-handed batters? The one he has tried to keep secret? It’s a cut fastball, and it’s the reason Olivares has been the Angels’ most effective and consistent starter this season.

Olivares hasn’t discussed the pitch because he didn’t want opponents to know he had it. But now that the Angels have played everyone in the American League at least once and batters, scouts and video cameras have caught onto his new pitch, he figured there’s no use hiding it.

“It has helped a lot, because it prevents left-handers from diving into my sinker,” said Olivares, who is 7-6 with a 3.26 earned run average entering this weekend’s interleague series at Colorado. “I wanted the other teams to have to figure it out before they read it in the paper.”

The story of how Olivares began throwing the pitch contains even more intrigue. Agent Scott Boras, who played with Olivares’ father, Ed, in the Cardinals’ system, thought Olivares’ arm slot and release point might be conducive to the pitch. Boras had another client by the name of Greg Maddux who had success with the cutter, so he suggested Olivares try it.

What a coincidence: The man who taught Maddux the cutter was now the Angels’ pitching coach--Pole.

“He taught it to me in spring training and I started throwing it after my first two starts,” Olivares said. “I picked it up pretty quick. A lot of guys think I scuff the ball, and now they think I do it even more.”

Pole eventually confessed. “To tell you the truth, he needed something to throw inside to lefties, and a cutter is a good way to do it. So far, he’s been an apt pupil.”

To which Coleman added: “Hey, did you hear about his knuckleball?”

*

Mo Vaughn is not an all-star, but he doesn’t really care. Last winter, after leaving Boston and a contentious relationship with the Red Sox front office to sign with the Angels, Vaughn said he would have loved to have been the starting first baseman in Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Fenway Park. What better way to stick it to Boston General Manager Dan Duquette?

But that was before Vaughn suffered a severely sprained left ankle in the season opener and hobbled through a first half (.288, 17 homers, 55 RBIs) that was subpar by his standards.

“If I was 100% I’d be upset, but haven’t played the whole season, and I haven’t been at full strength,” Vaughn said. “The time off will help my ankle heal even more. The main thing is to get ready for the second half.”

*

Few struggling pitchers would relish the thought of starting in Coors Field, but Chuck Finley, who has been bombed for 21 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings of his last three starts, might not mind.

The veteran left-hander was struggling, though not quite this much, in 1997 until he beat the Rockies, 4-1, in Coors Field in early July, a victory that turned his season around and started a franchise-record 14-game win streak.

“I’m looking forward to going anywhere that has a hill and a rubber on it,” Finley said. “As much as I’d like to throw a four-hit shutout and cure everything, I have to take it in bits and pieces. As bad as it looks, I have to realize I was throwing the ball pretty well until three starts ago.”

ON DECK

* Opponent--Colorado Rockies, three games.

* Site--Coors Field, Denver.

* Tonight--6 PDT.

* TV--Channel 9 all three games.

* Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Records--Angels 39-44, Rockies 39-44.

* Record vs. Rockies (1998)--3-0.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (4-9, 5.52 ERA)

vs.

ROCKIES’ DARRYL KILE (5-6, 5.57 ERA)

* Update--In addition to leading the Angels to wins over Seattle Tuesday and Wednesday, pitchers Mike Fyhrie (seven innings) and Steve Sparks (eight innings) provided much-needed relief for an Angel bullpen that had thrown 57 2/3 innings in the previous 13 games. And going into the hitters’ haven that is Coors Field, Manager Terry Collins likes the idea of a rested relief corps. “Our bullpen has done a tremendous job, but there were two or three guys down there who were out of gas,” Collins said. “Now we have everyone in Colorado, and you can go through some pitching there.”

* Saturday, 5 p.m. PDT--Omar Olivares (7-6, 3.27) vs. Pedro Astacio (8-7, 5.30).

* Sunday, noon PDT--Mike Fyhrie (0-0, 2.57) vs. Bobby Jones (4-7, 5.85).