Green’s Stay With Team Is Short and Bittersweet

OAKLAND â€”  Steve Green could have walked fewer batters, had a few more strikeouts and given up fewer hits and runs, and it wouldn’t have mattered.

The Angel right-hander was told before his major league debut Saturday he would be sent back to the minor leagues after the game, and the inevitable happened: The Angels optioned Green to triple-A Salt Lake and recalled first baseman Larry Barnes after Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the A’s.

With starting pitchers Ismael Valdes and Jarrod Washburn poised to come off the disabled list later this week, Green would not have made another start, so the Angels opted to bolster their bench for the week by adding Barnes.

Valdes, on the disabled list because of a split fingernail on the middle finger of his pitching hand, threw long toss for 10-12 minutes Saturday and will throw off the mound today. Angel Manager Mike Scioscia declared him fit to return this week.

Washburn, who will make a triple-A rehabilitation start today as he continues to rebound from his spring-training bout with strep throat, also is making steady progress toward his return.

Scioscia wants to split up his left-handers, Washburn and Scott Schoeneweis, in the rotation, so he’ll likely start Schoeneweis Friday against Seattle on his normal four days’ rest, insert Valdes in the rotation Saturday and Washburn Sunday.

Barnes, who came up short in his attempt to win the first base job this spring, likely will be sent back to Salt Lake when Valdes is activated.

*

Green’s first big league stint didn’t last long--he joined the team Friday and left Saturday--but he was pleased with his first start, in which he gave up two runs on four hits in six innings.

Green walked six, but he wasn’t extremely wild. Many of his pitches were around the plate but just out of the strike zone.

“The guys here are really patient, and they lay off a lot of pitches,� Green said. “You’ve got to throw quality pitches. I usually don’t walk this many guys, but overall, I think it went well.�

So did Scioscia.

“He had great stuff,� Scioscia said. “He had a good sinker, he changed speeds well and moved the ball around. He just needs to polish up a few things, and I think he’s going to be here for a long time.�

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Three giant mascot-type creatures, one a can of potato chips and one a roll of paper towels, pranced too long on the field in the middle of the seventh inning Friday night, delaying the game for several minutes.

Angel reliever Mike Holtz, who was ready to pitch but had to wait, was a little perturbed, and A’s Manager Art Howe fumed. “What I said can’t be printed,� Howe said. “I was like, ‘Geez, get off the field!’ How did that happen?�

Scioscia’s reaction? “I was hungry.�

TODAY

ANGELS’

SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS

(0-1, 3.86 ERA)

vs.

ATHLETICS’

BARRY ZITO

(1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, 1 p.m.

TV--Channel 9. Radio--KMPC (1540), KMXN-FM (94.3), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Zito, the A’s left-hander, was 2-0 with a 3.18 earned-run average in two starts against the Angels last season, but the Angels did rough him up the last time they saw him, ripping him for 10 runs on 10 hits in two innings of a Cactus League game March 24. Schoeneweis was bombed for seven runs in two innings in his only start against the A’s last season but looked strong in his first start of 2001, giving up three runs on eight hits in seven innings against Texas in the season opener.