Collins Defends Anderson

Fans booed Garret Anderson on Sunday after a second home run ball glanced off his glove during the Angels’ 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

On both, he had to reach over the fence in left field.

To Manager Terry Collins, Anderson was treated harshly.

“I think people see those type of catches as highlights on TV all the time, but they are not easy to make,” Collins said. “I think to boo Garret because he didn’t rob a home run isn’t fair.”

In the fifth inning, Anderson tried to reach over the eight-foot fence in left field on a ball hit by Bubba Trammell. In the sixth, Anderson reached into the stands over the short fence in the corner on Travis Fryman’s home run.

Anderson was harder on himself than the fans had been.

“Even though we won, it is still frustrating,” he said. “The first was like a pop fly and it went farther than I expected. The second, I got there, but the wind blew the ball back. I have to catch those.”

And the booing?

“Half of them will be asking me for my autograph after the game,” Anderson said. “They just boo because they can do it.”

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Darin Erstad will go on the Angels’ 14-day trip and not the disabled list, at least for now. Erstad, who missed the last three games, tested his strained right hamstring Sunday.

“We didn’t go real hard, just some jogging,” he said. “It definitely feels better than it did a couple days ago. My flexibility is better. But I haven’t really accelerated on it. That first step and turn is important. They don’t want me to try that quite yet.”

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Injured pitchers Troy Percival and Mark Gubicza didn’t not play catch Sunday, as had been planned. They had tested their injured right shoulders on Friday and Saturday. Neither is expected to make the trip. “They just have a plan for us and are sticking to it,” Gubicza said.

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Pitcher Rich DeLucia didn’t begrudge the fan who reached over the fence in the left-field corner to aide Fryman’s home run Saturday night. Replays showed that the ball would have hit the fence had the fan not touched it.

“The fences are just too low down there,” DeLucia said.

It was the first run DeLucia has given up in eight innings since being acquired from the San Francisco Giants.

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Outfielder Mike Wolff, brought to Anaheim in case of emergency, was returned to triple-A Vancouver without having been activated.