Middle Relief Difficult to Stomach

It was difficult to tell who was more queasy Thursday--reliever Mike James, who couldn’t pitch the ninth inning against Milwaukee because of an intestinal virus, or Manager Terry Collins, whose stomach did a few somersaults watching Pep Harris pitch the sixth.

The Angels, on the strength of a four-run second inning and another strong pitching effort from Jason Dickson, held a 5-2 lead going into the sixth, at which point Harris might have pitched himself off the opening-day roster.

Harris, one of the leading candidates for a middle-relief position, faced nine batters, giving up seven hits and seven earned runs, as the Brewers handed the Angels their seventh consecutive loss, 10-7.

“Pep is a sinkerball pitcher who got the ball up, and when he does that he’s going to get hit,� Collins said. “We’ve got to find someone who can get people out in the middle of the game. That’s my biggest concern right now.�

None of the Angels’ middle-relief candidates--Harris, Jim Abbott, Shad Williams, Dennis Springer, Todd Van Poppel and Darrell May--has shined this spring, though Williams and Van Poppel have shown improvement in recent days.

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Many Angels were moved by an hourlong presentation on the perils of smokeless tobacco, given by Joe Garagiola and former Detroit Tiger outfielder Bill Tuttle, whose face has been severely disfigured by five operations to remove cancerous tumors.

“It was a very powerful message,� said pitcher Mark Langston, who chews tobacco. “Everyone always thinks that’s going to happen to someone else, but people need to hear about the downside. I’ll obviously have to reevaluate things after seeing something like that.�

Garagiola is a former player and broadcaster who is national chairman for the National Spit Tobacco Education Program.

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Mark Gubicza, who hasn’t pitched in an exhibition since March 2 because of shoulder soreness, will start against the Rockies tonight at Tucson and is scheduled to pitch two innings.