ANGELS : Grahe Waits to Put His Best Pitch Forward

PALM SPRINGS —  His name was nowhere on the pitching schedule, not as a starter, not as a reliever, not even as a backup.

Joe Grahe seemed to have disappeared, although Angel Manager Doug Rader said the competition between Grahe and Scott Lewis for the fifth spot in the starting rotation isn’t over. Grahe knows Lewis will start Thursday against the Giants and he doesn’t know when he will pitch again, but Grahe doesn’t fear that he has become a non-person.

“I may have, and I may not have. It’s out of my hands,” said Grahe, who pitched three creditable innings Monday in relief of Kirk McCaskill in the Angels’ 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. “I just go out and give them some innings and do the best I can. I’ll just keep plugging away and see what happens.

“(Not knowing when he’ll pitch again), that’s the adventure. If I don’t pitch again, I’ve still got the whole rest of the year to look forward to. A lot of things can happen in six months and to base it all on these two weeks is ridiculous. If I don’t make the team now, it doesn’t mean I won’t be with the team in a month. You create a lot of ulcers worrying about things like this.”

The cancellation of two B games has created a problem for Rader and pitching coach Marcel Lachemann. They’d like to give Grahe a start but don’t want to disrupt the schedules of McCaskill, Chuck Finley, Jim Abbott and Mark Langston, and they’re contemplating asking opponents to play 11 or 12 innings to give the pitchers more work.

“It’s not a situation right now where somebody is going to eliminate themselves,” Rader said. “Between Joe and Scott right now it’s too close to call. I know Lach is non-committal and I’m non-committal. I’m not trying to vacillate. It’s a close competition between the two men. . . . We’re making this as equitable as possible.”

Grahe gave up Milwaukee’s final run on Franklin Stubbs’ triple into the right-field corner and a ground out by Jim Gantner. He struck out two and gave up four hits as he kept his earned-run average at 3.00 through 12 innings. Lewis’ ERA is 3.55 after 12 2/3 innings.

“It wasn’t bad. I was able to use all four of my pitches today, which is something I consciously meant to do,” Grahe said. “The last time (last Wednesday) I fell into a fastball-slider mode and I didn’t want to do that again.”

Until told otherwise, Grahe will simply go out to the mound when told and hope for the best.

“I have my job to do and I have to make it as tough a decision for them as I can,” said Grahe, who roomed with Lewis during the first part of spring training and remains friendly with his rival. “Once you get out there, you’ve got enough problems between you and the hitter to worry about anything else. You just have to let your natural ability take over.”

McCaskill was satisfied with his five-inning, two-run stint and the results of a minor change in his delivery.

“I had my stationary (left) foot off the rubber. I moved it back and it’s given me a little better hip position. It’s made a world of difference,” McCaskill said. “I felt better about my curve today.”

Scott Bailes kept his ERA at 0.00 by pitching a scoreless ninth, but the left-hander was angry with himself for giving up two hits. “This was the first time I didn’t feel in control this spring,” he said.

Controlling his blood-sugar level has worked a remarkable change in Bailes, whose ERA ballooned to 6.37 last season.

After feeling tired and weak for months, Bailes underwent tests over the winter and learned he had hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. A special regimen has given him energy and a good chance of winning a spot in the bullpen.

“They say hypoglycemia can affect your concentration. I know I had no plan out there. I was behind all the hitters and I felt fuzzy,” he said. “I had to change my diet and the amount of food I eat. Since then, I’ve felt really good.

“I want the opportunity to pitch and pitch like I have before in the big leagues and put last year behind me like it never happened.”

Infielder Bobby Rose, who started at first base to give Wally Joyner a day off, went three for four with three RBIs as the Angels ended an eight-game Palm Springs losing streak that dated to March 27, 1989.

Rose primarily plays second and third, positions at which the Angels fortified themselves by acquiring Luis Sojo and signing Gary Gaetti. Rose, who is eight for 18 (.444) this spring, hit .283 with triple-A Edmonton last season and .359 for double-A Midland in 1989.

“I like the Angel organization. I’ve got a lot of friends here and I don’t want to leave, but if a situation arises where I could be a starter somewhere else, well, that’s something everyone hopes for,” said Rose, who hit a two-run single in the first and drove in the fourth run in the fifth inning.

“The people they’ve acquired (to play second and third) are really good talents. I can’t do anything about it. I’ve got to go with the flow and roll with the punches.”

Angel Notes

Dave Parker was hitless for the third game in a row after getting seven hits in his first 11 at-bats. Dante Bichette, whom the Angels sent to the Brewers for Parker, was two for three and scored a run. . . . Jack Howell, who started in left field, drove in the fifth run with a single in the fifth.