Cloud One

It’s not as severe as Randy Velarde’s sprained elbow ligament or Chuck Finley’s broken facial bone, and it won’t send anyone to the disabled list.

But the Angels suffered a spring-training injury that has gone undetected until now--Manager Terry Collins’ tongue, which is nicked and sore and swollen because he bit it so often in March.

While the Angels stumbled through their Cactus League schedule, enduring two eight-game losing streaks and giving up runs in slabs and chunks, Collins chose restraint over rage.

There were many opportunities to tear into his team, but Collins went the diplomatic route, reminding everyone it was only spring, that the games didn’t count, that there was time to work the kinks out . . . not that it was easy.

“Almost every day you’d sit down when the game was over and say, ‘Geez, I hope we’re better than that,’ � Collins said. “But I don’t think you can read too much into games that don’t count.

“There are some people who have the ability to step up, and I’ve already seen things [in the Freeway Series] that I didn’t see all spring. Some bats came to life, there was a lot more intensity on the bench . . . I hadn’t seen that.�

Collins will need to see something drastically different from what he saw in March if the Angels, who open the season Wednesday night against the Boston Red Sox, have any hope of contending in a division that features a Seattle Mariner team many believe is capable of reaching its first World Series.

Eighteen times this spring, opponents scored four runs or more in an inning against the Angels, and nine of those were six-run outbursts or worse. The Angels gave up double figures in runs 12 times, and their team earned-run average going into the weekend was 8.03.

Yes, many of the big innings came against fringe relievers pressing to make the team, and, yes, baseballs travel far in the thin Arizona air. But opponents pitch in the same conditions, and Angel hitters didn’t exactly feast on the parade of minor leaguers on the mound.

If anything, they enter the 1997 season in danger of falling into their disturbing pattern of 1996, trailing early in games because of their pitching and struggling to mount comebacks.

This trap doomed the Angels last season--it was as if they began each game with a three-run deficit, and they simply didn’t have the energy to keep fighting uphill battles.

“We’ve got to stay away from big innings,� Collins said, “and I’m not talking about the two-run innings, but the seven-run innings. We’re a good offensive team but I don’t know that we can outslug anybody.

It would help if Angel starting pitchers remain healthy and productive, two elusive factors this spring. Ace Chuck Finley will likely sit out one or two starts because of his injury, and Mark Gubicza, who sat out 2 1/2 weeks of spring because of a sore shoulder, may not be strong enough to go more than five innings in his first start.

But even at full strength, starting pitching is not exactly a strength. Finley and Mark Langston are not as dominant as they once were, Gubicza led the American League in losses before suffering a season-ending knee injury last June, Allen Watson was battered around all spring, Jason Dickson, the Angels’ best starter this spring, is still a rookie, and Shigetoshi Hasegawa’s mistakes have been hit hard.

“If you look over the last two or three years, this team has scored some runs,� Collins said. “What concerns me is that they went through 29 pitchers last year, and that’s a problem. We need to keep the pitching staff as healthy as possible.�

If the starters can get to the sixth or seventh inning with a lead the Angels should be in fine shape, because in closer Troy Percival, set-up man Mike James, and left-handers Chuck McElroy and Mike Holtz, they have one of the league’s better bullpens.

Offensively, the Angels don’t match up real favorably with the Mariners, but Collins is confident they’ll be able to manufacture runs with aggressive baserunning and take advantage of the power hitters they do have--namely, Jim Edmonds and Tim Salmon.

The key for the Angels is timing. Salmon hit 30 homers last year and Edmonds hit 27, but many of them came in lopsided losses.

“It will be important for us to get early leads,� Collins said. “When you do that, your confidence just builds.�

With first baseman Darin Erstad leading off and second baseman Luis Alicea batting second, the Angels have some speed at the top of the order, and new third baseman Dave Hollins, one of the team’s best baserunners, should be a major upgrade offensively from George Arias.

Edmonds and Salmon are also good baserunners whose speed will be fully utilized by Collins, who wants to put as much pressure on opponents as he can.

“I like our attack--I’m encouraged by the way guys are running the bases better,� Collins said. “I’ve seen some guys bust their humps. It’s going to make a difference down the road.�

If the Angels are to contend, though, they’ll need above-average years from shortstop Gary DiSarcina and left fielder Garret Anderson, and production from the catching platoon of Jim Leyritz and Jorge Fabregas.

They’ll need to hit better in the clutch than they did in 1996, when they batted .257 with runners in scoring position.

They’ll need to pitch well and play solid defense, and they must be relentless on offense, regardless of the score. Why? Because their pitching could give out at any time.

“It can be frustrating when you’re having a good game and then all of a sudden you’re down by five runs,� Collins said. “I noticed that in spring training. But that has to change. There are 27 outs, and you have to compete on every one, because you never know--I’ve seen a lot of five-run ninth innings to win games.�