Jack Howell Goes on Disabled List

Third baseman Jack Howell will be put on the disabled list today, clearing a spot for new catcher Pat Borders on the roster. The Angels had been leaning toward keeping three catchers, but not at the expense of Howell, who injured his hamstring and calf Saturday.

“He couldn’t put any weight on it at all when he came into the clubhouse [Sunday],” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “It’s going to be a while before he can play again.”

Borders, acquired Saturday in a trade that sent minor league pitcher Ben VanRyn to St. Louis, joins a platoon of Jorge Fabregas and Don Slaught.

Fabregas could eventually be the odd man out.

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Rookie outfielder Darin Erstad went 0 for 10 before getting his first major league hit, a sharply hit single to right field in the fifth inning. The ball--the real one, not the one Rex Hudler scribbled all over and tried to pass off as the genuine article--will soon be heading home to Jamestown, N.D.

“I wouldn’t have minded if it came a few games earlier,” said Erstad, who was called up from triple-A Vancouver to replace injured center fielder Jim Edmonds on Friday.

When Erstad reached first base, Toronto’s Joe Carter said: “Congratulations. Now take a deep breath. The first one is always the hardest.”

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Reliever Brad Pennington, on the disabled list because of elbow trouble, made his second rehabilitation appearance for Class A Lake Elsinore. He struck out five in two innings.