No April Shower of Hits for Salmon, as Usual

Not even the Ballpark in Arlington, traditionally his favorite park to hit in, could snap Angel designated hitter Tim Salmon out of his early-season funk Friday.

While his teammates were pounding Seattle pitchers for 25 runs in a season-opening three-game sweep, Salmon, a career .261 hitter in April, was off to another of his notorious slow starts -- a broken-bat single to shallow center field Wednesday night was his only hit against the Mariners.

Then the Angels came to Arlington, where Salmon has a career .377 average with 17 home runs and 60 runs batted in. But he was hitless in four at-bats Friday and is batting .059 (one for 17) with four strikeouts and one walk in the first four games.

“I don’t know,” Salmon said after the Angels’ 12-4 loss to Texas. “Coming out of spring training I was trying to get relaxed, make some good passes on pitches, but I’ve been battling for the last two or three weeks. Once I relax at the plate, things will get better.”

Salmon said he doesn’t believe his struggles have anything to do with his transition from right field to DH, a switch that can be challenging for position players unaccustomed to the down time that comes with the new job. It’s more a matter of mechanics, he said.

“It’s getting yourself in a set position where you’re not thinking about anything,” Salmon said. “I’ll have that for an at-bat or two, but not all the time. You end up being late on pitches, early on pitches, swinging at pitches out of the zone or fouling off mistakes. Those are byproducts of not being comfortable in your setup at the plate.”

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Texas shortstop Michael Young didn’t make anyone forget about Alex Rodriguez in Friday’s home opener. Young, who played second base last season, made two throwing errors in the second, enabling the Angels to score three unearned runs.

But center fielder Laynce Nix made two nice leaping catches at the wall, robbing Garret Anderson of an extra-base hit in the third inning and Adam Kennedy in the fourth, and the Rangers banged out 18 hits, an offensive display that made an impression on Angel Manager Mike Scioscia.

“A-Rod is gone, but if you look at the quality of the player they got back in Alfonso Soriano, and the young talent they have in Hank Blalock, Mark Teixeira and Young, and a healthy Brad Fullmer, they’re as dangerous an offensive club as they were with A-Rod.... It’s a lineup that can give you problems.”

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Angel catcher Bengie Molina, sidelined by a slight strain of his left hamstring, will attempt to run the bases aggressively before tonight’s game. If he gets through the workout with no setbacks, he could start Sunday against the Rangers