Rookie Gives Angels Something to Talk About : Anderson’s Two-Run Triple Puts Him on Good Terms With Injured Schofield

Angel shortstop Kent Anderson wanted to get back on speaking terms with teammate Dick Schofield when he stepped in the batter’s box against Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart.

Just before Anderson took the field against the Athletics Sunday afternoon, the injured Schofield put some added pressure on the rookie replacement, who was one for six in the first two games of the three-game series.

“He told me he wouldn’t speak to me again unless I had at least three hits,” Anderson said. “I said, ‘You won’t be speaking to me the rest of the year.’ ”

Although he didn’t get three hits, Anderson did deliver a two-run triple off Stewart in the sixth inning to help the Angels defeat the A’s, 4-3, before a crowd of 60,326 at Anaheim Stadium. The victory cut the A’s lead in the American League West to one game over the Angels.

After Anderson scored the eventual winning run on a single by Claudell Washington, he was back in good status in the dugout.

“Schofield walked up and congratulated me,” Anderson said.

For most of the season, Anderson has been the one watching from the dugout instead of Schofield.

He moved into the starting lineup Friday for Schofield, who broke his left hand Thursday night in the third inning of a 3-2 loss to Seattle. Schofield is expected to be out two to four weeks.

Anderson knows all about broken bones. He broke his hand in 1986 while playing with the Angels’ Class-A Palm Springs team and broke his wrist the next year with triple-A Edmonton.

“Hopefully I got all of my breaks out of the way,” Anderson said.

Schofield’s bad break gave Anderson his big break. His start against the A’s on Friday was his first at shortstop since May 4.

Anderson said he doesn’t expect much playing time working behind Schofield, who has led American League shortstops in fielding the last two seasons.

“You don’t replace someone of Schofield’s talent,” Anderson said. “You just try to fill in for a few games. And when he gets back, hopefully we’ll be a game or two up in first place.”

Anderson started the year in Edmonton, where he played the previous two seasons. He was promoted to the parent club in late April to replace Schofield after the starter suffered a chest-muscle injury.

Anderson started 17 of the next 18 games and hit .278. The Angels were 12-5 in the games he started.

Then it was back to the bench.

“You can only prepare so much during batting practice,” Anderson said. “It’s a tough adjustment when me and Huffy (infielder Glenn Hoffman) sit on the bench. We always work hard during batting practice, and we hope that hard work will pay off.”

It did on on Sunday.

Anderson, hitting .207, struck out and flied to center field in his first two at-bats against Stewart, the starting pitcher in last month’s All-Star game.

But with two out in the sixth, Anderson floated Stewart’s pitch down the first-base line. The ball bounced out of the right-field corner and past outfielder Tony Phillips.

“The percentages were in my favor to get the guy out,” Stewart said. “It was a good pitch. You can tell how he hit the ball. You make the pitch you want to make and he hits a soft triple.”

Stewart was throwing to the lower outside corner against Anderson, who had two extra-base hits, both doubles, and nine runs batted in before Sunday. He had only five hits in his previous 46 at-bats.

Anderson said he was waiting for a low, outside pitch from Stewart.

“It was no surprise,” he said. “They (A’s pitchers) had been keeping the ball away from me and then busting it to the inside.

“I didn’t hit it as hard as I wanted to. I just put it in the right place.”