A Lighter Watson Not Waiting to Show His Best Stuff

TEMPE, Ariz. —  Allen Watson looked in midseason form against the San Diego Padres Saturday. He pitched five solid innings, although he gave up a home run, his first this spring.

“I was hoping to go the whole spring without giving one up,” said Watson who gave up a major league-high 37 home runs last season.

That dream ended when Wally Joyner hit a 1-1 fastball off the scoreboard in right-center field in the second inning. It was the only run that Watson yielded in five innings. He gave up four hits, struck out six and walked one.

“It’s easy to pitch when you have stuff like that,” Watson said. “It’s the days you don’t have it that you really have to pitch.”

Watson, a notorious slow starter, was determined to get off to a good start. He came to camp 17 pounds lighter, which has helped his pitching.

“My velocity is better and my breaking ball is sharper,” Watson said. “You lose 17 pounds off your stomach and it’s going to make a difference. Nolan Ryan has always said that a pitcher gets a lot of strength from his stomach.”

Watson left Saturday trailing, 1-0, as the Padres’ Joey Hamilton gave up only three hits in five innings. Still, it was the type of performance that Watson wants each start this spring.

“I’ve tried to motivate myself,” Watson said. “Sometimes you start to relax in spring training and you never get your stuff back.”

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The Angels, who had 26 runs and 40 hits in split squad games Friday, could manage only five hits off five Padre pitchers in a 2-2 tie Saturday.

“We got frozen out today,” outfielder Tim Salmon said.

And wet, as it rained through the last four innings. The game was called after the ninth. The Angels had a chance to win, but Orlando Palmeiro struck out with the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth.

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Omar Oliveras will start today, although he is expected to be a long reliever when the season begins. But Collins wants Oliveras and William VanLandingham to be ready to start as a precautionary measure.

“‘What happens if some one slips and pulls a groin?” Collins said. “You have to have some one prepared. We have both these guys stretched out if we need a starter.”

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Reliever Pep Harris probably will not throw for a week because of a sore shoulder, which could severely hurt his chances of making the team. Harris first felt pain in his last outing, when he gave up eight runs in two-thirds of an inning on March 5.

“I felt it warming up but I thought I could throw trough it,” Harris said. “They think there is some kind of swelling in there.”

Harris has given up 10 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings this spring.