BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Percival Says It’s Nothing Personal

Yes, Angel closer Troy Percival did thrust his arm in the general direction of Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas after getting Danny Tartabull to pop out with the bases loaded to end the 11th inning Monday night.

No, he was not taunting Thomas, who was perturbed at Percival’s fist-pumping antics after the reliever struck him out to end the Angels’ 6-5 victory on April 7.

And, yes, Percival is tired of talking about Thomas and the supposed bad blood between the two.

“Everyone’s world revolves around Frank Thomas, and everyone thinks it’s directed at him, but none of it is,” Percival said Tuesday. “The last time I looked, we did the Pledge of Allegiance, not the Pledge to Frank Thomas.”

Percival said he was just trying to pump up his teammates Monday night and got caught up in the intensity of an extra-inning game, which the Angels won, 9-8, in 13 innings.

Thomas, who said he did not see Percival’s reaction, was on second base when the inning ended.

“It was a tight situation, I saw J.T. [Snow, Angel first baseman] running across the field and said, ‘Let’s score some runs now!’ I didn’t even know where Thomas was on the field, and I wasn’t looking for him,” Percival said. “I can guarantee you if he wasn’t on base, I’d have done the same thing.”

*

He has faced the heart of the Cleveland Indian and Chicago White Sox orders, and Angel reliever Ryan Hancock still has a 0.00 earned-run average.

Hancock pitched a scoreless 12th and 13th innings to earn the win Monday night in an almost exact replica--minus the spectacular defensive play, hit and run--of his June 9 performance, when he shut out the Indians for the final 2 2/3 innings of an 8-6, 13-inning victory.

“I guess 13 is a lucky number for me,” said Hancock, a former Brigham Young quarterback.

Hancock had mixed success against two of the American League’s most feared batters, striking out Albert Belle in Cleveland and giving up a single to Thomas Monday night. But of the two, he was more intimidated by Thomas.

“He was pretty monstrous at the plate,” Hancock said of the 6-foot-5, 257-pound Thomas. “He’s 6-5 and all muscle. He looks like some of the linebackers I used to play against in college.”

*

Darin Erstad’s three runs batted in Monday night marked the first RBIs from the Angel leadoff spot during the month of June. . . . In their last nine games before Tuesday night, the Angel bullpen went 5-0 with six saves and a 1.67 ERA. . . . Duke pitcher Scott Schoeneweis, the Angels’ third-round pick in the recent draft, agreed to terms Tuesday and will report to Class A Lake Elsinore. Stanford outfielder Cale Carter, a former Mater Dei High School standout and a 20th-round pick, and Arkansas pitcher Jason Stephens, a ninth-round pick, also signed contracts. . . . Lake Elsinore pitcher Jarrod Washburn was chosen to play in the Class A all-star game but won’t participate because he was promoted to double-A Midland. . . . Pitcher Pete Janicki has been demoted from triple-A Vancouver to Midland. . . . Catcher Matt Merullo has been released by Lake Elsinore.