Calhoun booms and then busts

The game began with much promise for Kole Calhoun and the Angels on Tuesday night, the right fielder leading off the bottom of the first inning with a home run to right field off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, Calhoun’s 23rd of the season.

A little more than three hours later, it ended in frustration for Calhoun and the Angels. With a runner at third, Calhoun swung through a Kenley Jansen fastball for strike three to end the Angels’ 6-4 loss to the Dodgers, dropping the Angels 4 1/2 games behind Texas for the second American League wild-card spot.

Calhoun screamed to no one in particular after the final pitch landed in catcher A.J. Ellis’ mitt, and he slammed his bat to the ground before heading back to the dugout.

“It’s a hittable pitch, and the game is over,” Calhoun said in a quiet clubhouse. “You don’t ever want to be the last out. You want to compete. I’m fighting to get on base there. I have [Mike] Trout, [Albert] Pujols behind me, guys who can do something. It was a tough at-bat. That’s the competitor in all of us.”

It was one of three strikeouts in the game for Calhoun, but it probably wasn’t even his most frustrating. The Angels loaded the bases in the seventh on two Corey Seager errors and a David Freese single and scored on a Kershaw balk to pull to within 6-2.

Kershaw walked .165-hitting Taylor Featherston and up stepped Calhoun, representing the tying run. Kershaw got ahead with two straight strikes and threw a fastball down and away. Calhoun checked his swing, but third-base umpire Tripp Gibson said Calhoun went around for strike three. Inning over.

“If you look at the replay, I think it was pretty obvious he checked his swing,” said Manager Mike Scioscia, who was ejected for arguing the call. “The umpire had a different opinion, and that’s it.”

Said Calhoun: “I didn’t think I went around. It was close. The call could have gone either way. I can’t do anything about it. It’s not going to change anything.”

Kubitza tries new position

Scioscia wasn’t one for small talk when third baseman Kyle Kubitza, who was recalled from triple-A Salt Lake, stepped into the manager’s office Tuesday.

“He said, ‘Hello, good job this season.… Have you ever played second base?’ ” Kubitza said.

Kubitza was acquired from Atlanta in the off-season as a potential replacement for Freese in 2016. But with Kaleb Cowart emerging as a third base candidate and with a possible opening at second base, Kubitza began working out at second Tuesday, learning the finer points of the position from coach Alfredo Griffin.

“It’s going to be a process, but you have to start somewhere,” Scioscia said. “We’ll see where it leads long-term. We still view him as a candidate to be an everyday third baseman, but it’s not going to hurt him to be able to play second.”

Scioscia said Kubitza is not a candidate to play second base this season. Johnny Giavotella played there before being sidelined Aug. 21 because of double vision, and the Angels may want to upgrade next season. Kubitza, 25, hit .271 at triple A and has shown a willingness to adapt, playing some left field this season.

“The hardest thing is I’ve been playing on the left side for so long, to go back to the right side will be a little work,” Kubitza said. “But I feel I can do it.”

The early returns were good.

“He looks great,” Scioscia said. “But all of the things that go into playing second are going to take some time.”

Especially turning a double play. At 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds, Kubitza is longer and thicker than most second basemen, and that could be a challenge on the pivot.

But Kubitza has already secured a position with Licey in the Dominican winter league, and he could play some second base there.

“It’s something you have to work on,” Kubitza said of the double-play pivot. “I have to figure out a way to make it quicker, easier.”

Not in the Cards

The Angels will open the 2016 season at home April 5 against the Chicago Cubs, who are managed by former Angels bench coach Joe Maddon.

In addition to four games against the Dodgers on May 16-19, the Angels will face the National League Central in interleague play, with home series against St. Louis and Cincinnati, and series at Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Chicago.

But for the second consecutive round of play against the NL Central, the Angels won’t travel to St. Louis, denying Pujols the chance to play in the city where he starred from 2001 to 2011. The Angels hosted the Cardinals in 2013.

“I don’t look at the schedule and say, ‘Man, I can’t wait to go back to St. Louis,’ ” Pujols said. “When it comes, it will come at the right time.”

Told it won’t come until 2019, Pujols, who will be in the eighth year of his 10-year deal that season, said, “I may be retired by then.”

Short hops

Pujols said an MRI test on his right foot revealed inflammation but no structural damage. He is feeling better after taking medication and said it’s possible he could play some first base this weekend. Asked whether the injury affects his hitting, Pujols said, “Yes, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse.” … The nine pitchers the Angels used Monday set a franchise record for a nine-inning game. … In addition to Kubitza, the Angels recalled outfielder Daniel Robertson from triple A.