Move Up Puts Him on Top : Baseball: Since switching to No. 3 spot in batting order, Salmon has been a rousing success at the plate.

He batted fifth and struggled, but right fielder Tim Salmon wasn’t about to complain. It’s not his style and, he figures, maybe not his place either.

On May 18, Salmon was batting .227 and feeling out of sorts, but still he wouldn’t speak his mind.

“It’s funny,” he said before Wednesday’s game against Minnesota at Anaheim Stadium. “I was thinking about it. But the way I look at it, I’m lucky to be anywhere in the lineup.”

False modesty to be sure, but it was left to designated hitter Chili Davis to point out the mistake in Manager Marcel Lachemann’s lineup card. Salmon simply felt more comfortable batting ahead of Davis instead of behind him. He had batted primarily third in his previous two seasons in the majors.

“Chili was the one who started making a beef about it,” Salmon said. “He said, ‘I like you hitting in front of me. I want you hitting in front of me.’ ”

So the switch was made May 19.

It has been a rousing success.

Since moving to third in the order, Salmon is batting .347 (33 for 95). He has seven home runs and 22 runs batted in. He has hit safely in 18 of 25 games, lifting his average to a more pleasing .297. It had been .304, but he went hitless in four at-bats in the Angels’ 8-5 loss Wednesday.

“I was getting myself out,” he said of his early-season rut. “I wasn’t waiting for the right pitch.”

In the old order, pitchers took a pass on Davis, focusing instead on Salmon. “They’d go at me with their best stuff,” Salmon said.

In the past, he almost always had been at the top of his game. Now, pitchers began to take him more seriously. After all, he was the player of the year in the minor leagues in 1992, American League rookie of the year in ’93 and a .287 hitter with 23 homers and 70 RBIs in ’94.

Last season, he terrorized Texas and Seattle pitching by hitting five home runs in four games in one stretch in May. He also had 13 consecutive hits from May 10-11, tying an AL record.

On the day Salmon moved up in the order, he went three for four with an RBI.

When he grounded out in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s 7-2 victory over the Twins, it marked the end of a string of reaching base safely in nine consecutive plate appearances.

Sunday at Baltimore, Salmon homered in the third, singled in the fifth and walked in the eighth. The Angels won, 5-4.

Monday against the Twins, he doubled, walked, homered and walked. The Angels won, 9-1.

Tuesday, he singled twice before they finally got him out. The Angels won, 7-2.

Before Wednesday’s game, Salmon chalked up his recent success to maturity, patience and his teammates’ unexpected punch at the plate.

“I don’t go up trying to hit home runs,” Salmon said. “I’m shooting for 100 walks this year. I’ve learned to swing at better pitches. I’ve tried to stay up the middle, stick with the gimme pitches. It’s something I’ve done the past two to three weeks.”

When the season began, Salmon and Davis figured to carry the Angels offensively. Salmon felt the burden of expectation, but it hasn’t fazed him yet, partly because others have contributed.

Davis has a club-leading 34 RBIs, Jim Edmonds has 33, Salmon and J.T. Snow each have 30.

“I had been frustrated until lately,” Salmon said. “The silver lining was that Chili was getting the RBIs. I was glad somebody was getting them. It’s a good sign for the club.”

Salmon hasn’t had to load the Angels on his back, but sometimes he does it anyway.