Levine Has Soreness

The Angels’ interest in trading for pitching help was heightened Monday, when reliever Al Levine underwent tests after complaining of pain in his pitching shoulder.

Levine, the primary setup man for closer Troy Percival, faced six batters Sunday and retired two. In his last six appearances, he has given up eight hits and five walks over five innings. Manager Mike Scioscia said Levine had pitched with some discomfort and said the affected shoulder was “throbbing a little bit” after Sunday’s game.

An MRI examination Monday did not show any irregularities. Levine is scheduled for further examination today.

Levine, Lou Pote and Ben Weber have struggled on occasion recently, and Dennis Cook is the lone left-handed reliever. The Angels would like to acquire another left-handed reliever, and they wouldn’t mind adding a reliever who could come in and strike someone out, since Percival is their only power arm in the bullpen.

Angel President Paul Pressler said Disney would be willing to consider adding to a club-record $60-million player payroll.

“Short of injuries, it’s not clear that we need anything else to make a pennant run,” Pressler said. “If we really felt the team needed shoring up, of course we would evaluate it. You don’t want to get too far out and miss an opportunity.”

General Manager Bill Stoneman said any deal, whether for depth in the bullpen or elsewhere, would be a modest one.

“We’re not going to go out there and do something for huge dollars,” he said. “If we can take on a little extra salary for measurable help, we’ll look at that.”

However, as Scioscia noted, the Angels aren’t the only team looking for pitching help.

“When everybody’s going after the same chip, it becomes a challenge,” Scioscia said. “It’s a tough commodity to acquire. But, if we don’t get pitching help, I think we have a championship-caliber staff anyway.”

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Donald Watkins, the Alabama businessman interested in buying the Angels, continues to evaluate financial information provided by Disney. That evaluation will determine whether he raises, lowers, abandons or restates his preliminary bid of $250 million. Watkins is believed to be the only suitor to inspect the Angels’ books recently, and Disney is expected to run the team at least through the end of the season.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ KEVIN APPIER

(5-4, 3.62 ERA)

vs.

PIRATES’ JOSH FOGG

(6-4, 3.44 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

TV--Channel 9.

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

Update--Shortstop David Eckstein, whose grand slam highlighted Sunday’s victory, joined Kirby Puckett as the only players shorter than 5 feet 9 to hit three slams in one season over the last 20 years. Triple-A outfielder Jeff DaVanon’s back injury is expected to keep him out several more weeks, making Julio Ramirez’s spot on the Angel roster a bit more secure.

Tickets--(714) 663-9000.