Angels Recall Clark to Replace Injured Finley

KANSAS CITY —  With still no exact reading on the nature of Chuck Finley’s foot injury, the Angels announced Thursday that they were putting the left-handed pitcher on the 15-day disabled list and recalling Terry Clark from triple-A Edmonton to replace Finley in the starting rotation.

Finley underwent another battery of diagnostic tests Thursday at Inglewood’s Centinela Hospital Medical Center, but after studying the results, Lewis Yocum, Angel team physician, said they were “inconclusive” as to whether Finley was suffering from a stress fracture or a sprained ligament in his left foot.

Yocum prescribed conservative treatment for a week, meaning ice and ultrasound therapy, before performing the round of tests again.

In the meantime, the Angels need someone to pitch Finley’s next scheduled game, Saturday in Texas, so they decided to recall Clark, a 28-year-old right-hander, for the second time thisseason.

He spent nine days with the Angels in early June, but didn’t pitch.

With the Trappers, Clark was 11-5 with a 3.58 earned-run average in 20 starts. He had four complete games and two shutouts while striking out 90 and walking 33 batters in 138 1/3 innings.

Last season, Clark split time between Edmonton and the Angels, going 7-6 with the Trappers and 6-6 with the Angels.

The Angels also considered the promotion of another Edmonton pitcher, hard-throwing, 24-year-old Mike Fetters, but Manager Doug Rader said the situation called for a more experienced hand.

“Terry’s experience had a lot to do with it,” Rader said. “He had some success here before and he was throwing well at Edmonton.”

Finley’s placement on the 15-day disabled list is retroactive to Aug. 22, which means he will be eligible to return on Sept. 6, provided no stress fracture is found. Finley, the Angels’ winningest pitcher at 14-8, will miss at least three starts.

That’s hardly great timing for a team struggling to stay afloat in the American League West race.

“All the teams I’ve been on that have won never lost somebody like that,” said Angel pitcher Dan Petry, who participated in two playoffs with the Detroit Tigers. “This is like the Brewers losing (Jim) Gantner. You’re trying to rally and this happens.

“We’ve still got to play the games and go about it, but you can’t say it’s not going to hurt.”