Bunt a Deceptive Weapon for Power-Hitting Hollins

This strapping, goatee-sporting No. 3 batter steps into the box, and the last thing you’d expect is for him to bunt for a base hit. That’s for scrawny leadoff guys who can’t reach the fences with an aluminum bat, right?

Not if you’re Dave Hollins, the Angel third baseman who has 10 home runs and 43 RBIs but also accounted for his team-leading seventh bunt single in the sixth inning of Saturday night’s game against Seattle.

“He’s the best right-handed bunter in the American League,” Angel bench coach Joe Maddon said. “If he gets it into a good spot down the line, with his speed, there’s no way to stop it.”

Hollins is a switch-hitter who was batting .340 from the right side and .266 from the left through Friday, “but if I could learn to bunt left-handed like I can right-handed, my numbers [from the left side] would probably be a lot better,” Hollins said.

Bunting always has been a part of his game, as far back as Little League, and he has a remarkable success rate. Only once this season has Hollins been thrown out on a bunt attempt.

“One good thing about it,” Hollins said, “is if I get it down and bring the third baseman in, maybe next time I can get a ball by him.”

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An anxiety-filled week ended for Hollins early Saturday morning when his wife, Kerri, gave birth to the couple’s third child, a daughter, in Orchard Park, N.Y. Kerri’s due date was June 28.

“I got worried the last few days because she was overdue,” said Hollins, who will return home tonight and remain there through Thursday, missing the Angels’ game in Oakland on Thursday. “I didn’t really think about it [during games], but I did feel a big relief last night.”

Hollins said his wife and the baby, Haley Ann, who was delivered after only 25 minutes of labor, are fine. Asked if there was an “E” on the end of her middle name, Hollins, who made his 15th error Saturday night, burst into laughter. “No,” he said, “we try to keep the E’s out of our family.”

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Most left-handed batters cringe at the thought of facing Seattle ace Randy Johnson, but Angel first baseman Darin Erstad looked the Big Unit in the eyes twice last week, going three for seven with a home run against the 6-foot-10 Mariner left-hander.

So, is Erstad ready to write a manual on how left-handers should approach Johnson? “Yeah, it would say close your eyes, hope to get your bat on the ball and get lucky,” Erstad said. “I just went up there and tried to see it and hit it. I didn’t take it much deeper than that.”

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TONIGHT’S GAME

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (4-6, 5.36 ERA) vs. MARINERS’ JEFF FASSERO (8-3, 3.87 ERA)

Anaheim Stadium, 5.

TV--ESPN. Radio--KTZN (710).

* Update--Finley is trying to build on the momentum from his last start, a 7 1/3-inning, one-run, five-hit effort in a 4-1 victory over Colorado at Coors Field on Tuesday. Before that, on June 27, the left-hander was knocked around by Seattle for eight runs on eight hits, including three home runs, in five innings of an 8-1 loss to the Mariners in the Kingdome. The Angels had little success against Fassero that night, mustering one run on seven hits in seven innings against the Seattle left-hander. Eddie Murray, on the disabled list because of tendinitis in his right wrist, had a cortisone injection Friday and hopes to begin taking batting practice after the All-Star break.