Langston Goes Back on Disabled List

Mark Langston had just finished saying that poor location and not a lack of arm strength was the reason for Wednesday’s five-run, one-inning debacle, when he was called into Manager Terry Collins’ office and told he was being put back on the 15-day disabled list.

Langston was replaced on the roster by catcher Chris Turner, who was promoted from triple-A Vancouver as a backup to Chad Kreuter. Starting catcher Todd Greene suffered a broken right wrist when hit with a foul tip Wednesday.

Langston, who underwent elbow surgery May 27, wasn’t available for comment after the roster move, but he said earlier that he was expecting to pitch again soon.

“I feel great, I wasn’t out there long enough to hurt anything,” he said. “I felt I was ready to come back and I think I had good movement on my breaking ball and a decent fastball. I just didn’t execute. Every fastball I tried to throw in was crushed.”

Collins said Langston understood why the team had to make the move. “I told him I need to get Turner on and I don’t know any other way to do it,” Collins said.

But Collins also acknowledged that Langston’s velocity was not up to par.

“When Mark is sharp, his fastball is in the 89-90-91-mph range,” Collins said. “[Wednesday] he was 85, 86, 87. That’s not bad, but it won’t work when your location isn’t right.”

Langston will throw a simulated game Tuesday and work to rebuild his arm strength.

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Chuck Finley’s left hand looks as if someone painted it purple and then he dipped his fingertips in white paint. The bruising extends from his wrist up to the middle of his fingers, but Finley says his sprained wrist is improved.

“I could tell as soon as I got up this morning that it was looser,” said Finley, who injured his wrist when he fell while backing up home plate Tuesday night. “The swelling seems to have thinned down and spread out a little, but the best thing is that my range of motion has really increased.”

Finley will throw on the side Saturday and, if he continues to heal, start Tuesday night against Cleveland.

*

A very subdued Greene showed up in the Angel clubhouse with his arm in a cast just before Thursday night’s game. “I can’t believe how terrible the timing is,” said Greene, who had nine home runs and 24 RBIs in 34 games, “but this has been a great experience for me. It’s been great for my confidence.” Greene will probably sit out the rest of the season, unless the Angels get deep into the playoffs. . . . Turner, who went through waivers unclaimed after he was dropped from the Angels’ 40-man roster last month, said he never expected to be back with the team. He was on the disabled list because of a sprained left wrist early in the season but says he’s now “back in midseason form . . . which isn’t saying much in my case, but I’m there.”

ON DECK

* Opponent--Boston Red Sox, three games.

* Site--Anaheim Stadium.

* Tonight--7.

* TV--Channel 11, Saturday.

* Radio--KTZN (710).

* Records--Angels 69-59, Red Sox, 64-64.

* Record vs. Red Sox--4-4.

TONIGHTS’S GAME

ANGELS’ ALLEN WATSON (10-7, 4.56 ERA)

vs.

RED SOX’S BRET SABERHAGEN (1997 debut)

* Update--Saberhagen is making his first start since Game 4 of the 1995 National League divisional playoffs while with Colorado. He underwent reconstructive surgery on his right shoulder May 28, 1996, and signed as a free agent with the Red Sox last winter. Watson, who got an extra day of rest between starts because his arm was “a little fatigued,” according to Manager Terry Collins, went seven innings and gave up three runs in a game the Angels eventually lost to Baltimore, 5-4, in 10 innings Sunday. The Red Sox had won six in a row before losing to Oakland on Thursday.

* Saturday, 1 p.m.--Jason Dickson (12-5, 3.84) vs. Aaron Sele (12-9, 5.81).

* Sunday, 1 p.m.--Ken Hill (6-10, 5.61) vs. Tim Wakefield (8-14, 4.48).