Angels express growing concern over Josh Hamilton’s shoulder injury

Josh Hamilton will sit out a fifth straight game because of tightness and discomfort in the back of his right shoulder, and Manager Mike Scioscia acknowledged he is getting “concerned” about his left fielder’s lack of improvement.

Hamilton first hurt the shoulder in Houston last week and aggravated it fielding a ball off the wall and making a strong throw to second in the opener of a four-game series in Minnesota on Thursday night.

“Guys play banged up when you’re in a pennant race, so for Josh to not play, you know he’s hurting,” Scioscia said before the Angels opened a three-game series against the hapless Texas Rangers in Globe Life Park on Tuesday night. “At first blush, it doesn’t look like it’s going in the right direction today.”

Hamilton, who was beginning to show signs of emerging from a brutal mid-August slump by hitting .345 (10 for 29) in a nine-game stretch from Aug. 20-28, took some swings in the batting cage Tuesday afternoon and was going to try to take batting practice on the field before the game.

The Angels have fared well without Hamilton, racking up 46 runs and 70 hits in a four-game sweep of the Twins and Monday’s 12-3 win over Cleveland, but they would be even more dangerous in the postseason if Hamilton, their cleanup batter, was hitting.