BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS

Texas designated hitter Brian Downing, bothered off and on by strained muscles in his rib cage for several years, had been trying to play every day despite the pain.

“Toby told me he’d play me until I die. That’s all I can ask of him,” said Downing, 41, after a meeting with Manager Toby Harrah last month.

But after going five for 25 in his last six games, wincing with every swing, he was scratched from Sunday’s lineup and isn’t expected to play today.