BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Aggressiveness Pays for Curtis

He commits enough base-running and fielding mistakes to make his manager furious, but there are plenty of times when Chad Curtis’ aggressiveness pays off.

Thursday’s 5-4 victory over Kansas City was one. Curtis had a run-scoring single, scored two runs, walked twice and stole two bases, finishing a strong home stand. He batted .447 with one home run and seven RBIs in the 10 games at Anaheim Stadium.

His explanation?

“I feel fresh again,” he said. “I went through a period where I felt stale at the plate and stale on the basepaths. I don’t know why.”

His batting average dropped from .291 to .281 on the Angels’ 11-game trip to Cleveland, Boston and New York, and he went through a stretch of getting caught stealing five consecutive times. He also saw Cleveland’s Kenny Lofton pull away as the American League leader in stolen bases.

Asked if returning to Anaheim played any part in his hot streak, he shrugged.

“That may have had something to do with it,” said Curtis, who raised his average to .298 and his stolen-base total to 40. “I think I just started feeling good again.”

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Manager Buck Rodgers brought Joe Grahe out of the bullpen to get one batter out in the midst of a jam in the seventh inning. But Grahe hit Kansas City catcher Mike Macfarlane with his first pitch, loading the bases.

Rodgers stormed out of the dugout and replaced Grahe with Ken Patterson.

“I was angry at myself,” said Grahe, who grabbed his warmup jacket and stomped up the runway to the clubhouse. “Shoot, I deserved to get taken out after that.”

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Reliever Gene Nelson, who hasn’t pitched since Sunday, threw on the sideline and reported no pain in his neck or shoulder. The club decided it will not put him on the disabled list.

In his first 33 appearances, Nelson had a 1.30 ERA, but in his last four games, he gave up 11 hits and seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.