ANGELS NOTEBOOK: HOLTZ ALWAYS WARY OF GETTING BARRY'D.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Relief pitcher Mike Holtz comes to the ballpark every day knowing he might make only one pitch in that night's game, but it might win or lose the game for the Angels.

As a left-handed specialist, Holtz often enters the game to face the opponent's best left-handed hitter at a crucial part of the game. Playing the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series here, Holtz has one player on his mind all day long - Barry Bonds.

``I try not to get myself too geared up,'' Holtz said. ``I respect him for the hitter he is, but I have a job to do, and that's get him out. I can't try to overthrow. That's when you make mistakes.''

Holtz has faced Bonds in interleague play during the past few seasons and has been successful. Bonds is 0 for 2, including a strikeout and a walk. But Holtz doesn't have the luxury starting pitchers sometimes get by not throwing Bonds any strikes.

``In the situations I might face him, like the seventh or eight inning with runners on base, I'm not always able to pitch around him,'' Holtz said. ``But I still have to pitch him carefully.''

--No easy answers: Manager Mike Scioscia said he would consider anything when pitching against Bonds, even walking him with the bases loaded. But he also said his pitchers can't always avoid Bonds by walking him.

``It's not as simple as that,'' Scioscia said. ``There are times when you want to pitch carefully to him, but he's a threat on the bases also. You might get into a situation where you wished you challenged him.''

Bonds homered in his first at-bat Tuesday, hitting the first pitch thrown to him by Angels starter Pat Rapp.

It was Bonds' 33rd homer of the season in 64 games, the fastest to 33 in major-league history. Mark McGwire reached 33 in the St. Louis Cardinals' 70th game in 1998.

``There's not a matchup you feel comfortable with,'' Scioscia said. ``The fact that we're talking about this shows the level of respect we have for him, what a great hitter he is and the kind of year he's having.''

--Hasegawa feeling 'fine': Relief pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa threw for about 10 minutes during a bullpen workout Tuesday and said he felt fine. Hasegawa, who has a partial tear in the rotator cuff of his right shoulder, said he threw only fastballs at about 80 to 90 percent.

``Right now, I'm fine, I'm almost there,'' said Hasegawa, who hasn't pitched in a game since May 19.

Hasegawa, 2-3 with a 4.79 ERA, will throw again Friday in Anaheim before the Angels decide what to do next. But he'll likely throw two more times in workouts before going on a rehab assignment, meaning he's a couple of weeks away from returning.

ANGELS vs. SAN FRANCISCO

Time: 7:15 p.m., at Pac Bell Park.

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net; 1540-AM, 1090-AM (Spanish).

Matchup: Scott Schoeneweis (6-3, 3.92 ERA) will start for Anaheim against San Francisco's Russ Ortiz (7-4, 4.04). Schoeneweis has been the Angels' most consistent starter, going at least six innings in 11 of 12 starts. The Angels are 25-1 when leading after seven innings.

- Joe Haakenson

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ANGELS vs. SAN FRANCISCO (see text)