Belcher’s Broken Finger No Surprise

It’s to the point now where you don’t merely expect the worst when it comes to Angel injuries--you can count on it.

That’s why not an eyebrow was raised Sunday when the Angels said Tim Belcher had broken the pinky finger on his pitching hand, not simply sprained it, as was announced Saturday night.

And why no one was surprised when the Angels put outfielder Matt Luke on the 15-day disabled list because of a partial tear in the right oblique muscle, which is below the rib cage.

And why the news on pitcher Ken Hill was something of an upset. The right-hander, who has been suffering from arthritis in his elbow, threw in the bullpen Sunday and proclaimed himself fit enough to make his next start, which Manager Terry Collins has pushed back to Wednesday night.

Chuck Finley and Omar Olivares will start the first two games of a three-game series against first-place Texas on three days’ rest, and Hill will have gone a week between starts when he pitches Wednesday.

The Angels are off Thursday, and Collins has slated Steve Sparks, Finley and Olivares for the weekend series in Oakland. Hill is scheduled for next Monday against Seattle, so the Angels won’t need a fifth starter until July 6.

At that point, if Belcher is not ready, the Angels could turn to right-hander Mike Fyhrie, who is 8-4 with a 3.49 earned-run average for triple-A Edmonton, left-hander Jarrod Washburn (0-4, 5.64 ERA at Edmonton) or right-hander Ramon Ortiz (8-4, 3.10 at double-A Erie).

Or Collins could spot start either Mark Petkovsek, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Scott Schoeneweis or Mike Magnante. “We’ll make day to day evaluations,” Collins said.

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The Angels will have a better idea of the severity of Belcher’s injury after he is examined today by Dr. Norman Zemel, a hand and wrist specialist, but Belcher could be out for several weeks.

“Is it going to be one start, one month? I don’t know,” Collins said. “For sure, he’s not going to pitch for a while.”

Luke’s injury is on the opposite side of the mysterious back ailment that sidelined him for three months, which is encouraging, but the power hitter who slammed two homers last week before being injured when he slammed into Seattle catcher Dan Wilson last Thursday, could be sidelined more than a month.

With the predominantly left-handed hitting A’s in town Sunday, and with the Rangers and powerful left-handers Rusty Greer and Rafael Palmeiro on deck, the Angels recalled left-handed reliever Mike Holtz to replace Luke.

Holtz, the Angels’ primary left-handed relief specialist in 1997 and for much of ‘98, was 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA in 18 games at Edmonton, striking out 35 and walking nine in 23 2/3 innings.

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The one player who appeared to have the potential to ease some of the loss of cleanup batter Tim Salmon was lost himself when Luke went on the DL, the 13th time the Angels have used the DL this season.

“It’s getting to be a bit silly,” Collins said of the head-spinning array of injuries this season. “Matt got a chance to play, he did great and then, ‘Bam,’ he’s out.”

Literally. Luke said he actually injured himself crashing into Wilson Thursday night and aggravated the injury making two throws from right field in the first inning Friday night.

“On the second throw, something just gave in there,” Luke said. “At rest, there’s no pain, bu if I do something a certain way, it locks up. It’s frustrating, but I’m not going to focus on that. All I can do is persevere.”

ON DECK

* Opponent--Texas Rangers, three games.

* Site--Edison Field.

* Today--7 p.m.

* TV--Fox Sports West, all games.

* Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090), KCTD (1540).

* Records--Angels 35-39, Rangers 42-33.

* Record vs. Rangers--3-1.

* Tickets--(888) 796-4256.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (4-7, 4.56 ERA)

vs.

RANGERS’ MIKE MORGAN (8-5, 5.69 ERA)

* Update--How much do the Angels miss cleanup batter Tim Salmon? Todd Greene’s RBI single in the first inning Sunday night was only the fifth RBI by an Angel cleanup batter this month and the 15th in the 48 games since Salmon sprained his left wrist on May 3. Salmon had 25 RBIs in 26 games. The Angels catch a break in that they won’t have to face the Rangers’ two best pitchers, Aaron Sele and Mike Morgan, in this series. But Angel pitchers will have their hands full with the likes of Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro, who have combined for 40 homers and 129 RBIs this season.

* Tuesday, 7 p.m.--Omar Olivares (6-5, 3.39) vs. John Burkett (1-3, 7.20).

* Wednesday, 7 p.m.--Ken Hill (3-7, 4.97) vs. Ryan Glynn (1-2, 7.46).