ANGELS : Glut of Injuries Hit, but Most Are Minor

PALM SPRINGS —  Their injuries ranged from Matt Keough’s career-threatening rotator cuff tear to Max Venable’s bruised toe, a flurry of aches and ailments seemingly blown in on the ill wind that swirled around Angels Stadium Monday.

Not that they needed a lesson, but the Angels were reminded in their 9-7 loss to the San Diego Padres just how precarious health and good fortune can be.

“Things can turn real quick,” reliever Bryan Harvey said. “It doesn’t take much.”

Said Venable, “It seems like everybody is falling apart.”

Most of the problems aren’t serious. The shoulder stiffness that persuaded left-hander Jim Abbott to curtail his outing in the sixth inning with a runner on first and a 2-and-2 count on designated hitter Thomas Howard was deemed minor by Abbott and Manager Doug Rader.

“It’s pretty insignificant,” Abbott said. He was charged with two runs after reliever Jeff Robinson gave up two walks and a single.

“I felt a little stiffness since my last outing. I threw through it until today. I was OK, but then we had that real long (fifth) inning and it stiffened up. It was windy and cold and there was no sense in being macho . . . Had this been the season, I don’t think I would have come out of the game. It made no sense to push it and have something worse happen.”

Left fielder Luis Polonia left the game after his fourth-inning double because of blurred vision, third baseman Gary Gaetti left because of shin splints, second baseman Luis Sojo exited because of a sore toe and Venable needed X-rays after fouling a ball off his right foot.

It was also announced Monday that tests showed a tear in Keough’s right rotator cuff and that Bert Blyleven will undergo tests Thursday to determine the cause of discomfort in his surgically repaired right shoulder. Finishing the exhibition schedule without further damage has become a high priority.

“The season’s getting close now,” said Harvey, who continued his impressive spring showing with a scoreless ninth inning. “We can’t afford to have anybody get hurt.”

Blyleven will have an arthrogram at Centinela Hospital Medical Center. He progressed well during the early stages of spring training, but his gains slowed in recent weeks. He was examined Sunday by team physician Lewis Yocum, who suggested he reduce his workouts from throwing off the mound to long-tossing.

“He was coming along to a point, but he stayed at that point quite a while,” pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said.

Blyleven, who will turn 40 Saturday, said he doesn’t consider this a setback in his attempt to return from his operation last October.

“I don’t think I really had a timetable,” he said. “I’m just trying to get healthy. That’s my main concern.”

Keough, 35, underwent rotator cuff surgery in 1985 and went on to pitch four years in Japan. He’s not looking forward to another long rehabilitation.

“The next six months are going to be a lot of fun,” he said sarcastically.

The Angels reduced their roster to 32 by waiving infielders Rick Schu and Fred Manrique and returning left-hander Ed Vosberg to their minor league camp in Mesa, Ariz.

Schu hit .268 last season in 61 games, mostly at third base. He started only one of the eight games he appeared in this spring and hit .364 (four for 11). He had a non-guaranteed contract for $330,000.

Schu will try to catch on with another club. Manrique, who is 89 days short of the five years’ experience necessary for pension qualification, was four for four Sunday against the Oakland Athletics. However, he suspected his chances of making the team weren’t good.

Left-hander Bob McClure, who has been hampered by tightness in his pitching shoulder, won’t be ready by the start of the season, Lachemann said. He said McClure is progressing slowly but steadily.

“(Sunday) was probably the best he’s thrown,” Lachemann said. “He’s still a long ways away, though. He’s not throwing breaking balls yet.”

Robinson gave up two runs and Floyd Bannister gave up five, as the Padres rallied in the eighth to erase the 7-0 lead the Angels built over five innings. Dave Parker and Junior Felix were two for four, with Parker collecting two runs batted in and Felix one.

The Angels and Padres will play a seven-inning B game today. The Angels’ first two pitchers will be right-handers Joe Grahe and Mike Fetters.

Dave Gallagher celebrated April Fools’ Day by telling another fib about his past.

Gallagher got two fabrications into the Angels’ media guide, claiming he was an All-American soccer player in college and was a member of the New Jersey Inventors’ Hall of Fame. Undaunted at having his lies uncovered last week, he told a reporter Monday he had bowled two 300-games in one day several years ago.

“He asked me when, and I came back and said 1987, so it sounded authentic,” Gallagher said with a grin.