Belcher Will Stay the Curse

In the first inning of his first game as an Angel, Mo Vaughn tumbled down the dugout steps at Edison Field and wrenched his ankle. Angel curse? Vaughn scoffed at the notion.

But Tim Belcher believes. Before he joined the Angels in 1999, he had pitched at least 200 innings in each of the preceding three seasons and at least 150 innings in each of his 11 years in the major leagues. Then he signed a two-year contract with the Angels and promptly broke a finger, developed an inflamed elbow and tore a muscle in his pitching arm.

He pitched 132 innings in 1999 and only 41 last season.

So he’s a bit bemused by the second of two questions surrounding him this spring: Can he make the starting rotation? And, if so, can he make it through the season without a major injury?

“I’ve done it for a lot of years,” Belcher said, “before I came here and suffered the Angel curse.”

Belcher, 39, might be joking, but a little respect for the baseball gods can’t hurt. He gave up one run in three pain-free innings of the Angels’ 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday.

The field for the final two spots in the starting rotation includes Scott Schoeneweis, Pat Rapp, Brian Cooper, Matt Wise and Belcher.

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An MRI examination confirmed that outfielder Garret Anderson’s groin injury involves a strained muscle, not a torn one.

Manager Mike Scioscia said he hoped Anderson could return next week. Anderson has not played in the exhibition season.

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Second baseman Adam Kennedy suffered a bruised right hand when hit by a pitch Thursday. . . . Ismael Valdes, his first spring start delayed until Thursday because of tightness in his right side, gave up three runs and three hits in 1 2/3 innings but said he felt fine.

Kimera Bartee, hoping to make the team as a backup outfielder, had two hits and drove in two runs. He has driven in six runs in nine at-bats. . . . Rookie Larry Barnes, battling Wally Joyner and Scott Spiezio at first base, hit his second home run of the spring--against Mike Hampton, no less--as an Angel split squad lost to the Colorado Rockies, 6-3.