BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Carew Calls to Congratulate Puckett

Hitting instructor Rod Carew called Kirby Puckett Sunday night to congratulate him after the Minnesota outfielder broke Carew’s all-time Twin record for hits. Puckett hit a two-run homer in the first inning Sunday and got two more hits to total 2,088. Carew had 2,085.

“That’s what records are for, for someone to surpass them,” Carew said. “Certainly, Kirby is deserving. He’s put together some pretty good years. I told him I’d be calling again when he gets No. 3,000.”

Carew knows he will never be forgotten by the fans of Minneapolis and that makes it easy to be charitable.

“I go back and people recognize me from my playing days and they’re always nice,” he said. “I played there 12 years and I made a lot of friends. I love the atmosphere. It’s not too big of a city with too hectic of a pace. It’s a place you can live. I could see myself going back there some day.”

*

Catcher Greg Myers, who suffered a bruised left knee Sunday when a foul off the bat of Texas’ Rusty Greer hit him in an unprotected spot between pads, was not in the starting lineup Monday night, but Manager Marcel Lachemann said he probably would have given him the night off anyway.

“It hit me right on the spot where I had the surgery,” said Myers, who sat out two months after suffering torn cartilage in a plate collision with Boston’s Mike Greenwell April 23. “It got me pretty good, but I didn’t think it would have any affect on the surgery. I can play. I can deal with it.”

*

Chili Davis was a late scratch from Monday’s lineup because of tenderness in his groin. He suffered the injury scoring from second base in the fourth inning Sunday against Texas. Bo Jackson, who replaced him at designated hitter, struck out in each of his first three at-bats, every time with a runner in scoring position. . . . Right-hander John Dopson underwent an MRI on Monday and was diagnosed as having a strained right shoulder. He will be re- evaluated in two weeks. . . . Eduardo Perez, in triple-A Vancouver to refine his defensive skills at third base, will be sidelined for five or six days after re-injuring his left thumb. He originally was hurt diving for a ball and aggravated the injury on a check swing Friday night. Perez will go to the Angels’ facility in Mesa, Ariz., for rehabilitation before rejoining the Canadians.