Runners a Little Slow Out of Blocks

The go-go Angels of 1997 have looked more like the no-go Angels this April, their running game stuck in neutral while Manager Terry Collins tinkers with the controls.

Through 11 games, the Angels have only four stolen bases, and they’ve attempted very few hit-and-run plays. They stole 126 bases last season, more than doubling their output from 1996.

“We’re not shocking anyone this year,” Collins said. “Pitchers’ times [from the stretch] to home plate have been drastically quicker. Teams are expecting us to run more, and they’re ready for it.”

Several internal factors have put a crimp in the running game. Tim Salmon’s sore Achilles’ tendon is acting up, Jim Edmonds has a sore hamstring, and Darin Erstad has a sore calf. The Angels also missed about a dozen stolen-base and hit-and-run signs in the first 10 games.

“From what I saw in spring training I thought some teams might have picked up our signs, so we changed them,” Collins said. “But some guys got confused. I talked to them [Sunday] morning about it, and I decided to simplify the signs.”

Collins said some batters and runners were concentrating so much on the new signs “they forgot what their jobs are.” For that, Collins blamed himself.

*

Collins took no credit for Sunday’s 12-1 victory over Cleveland. “I don’t play, I don’t hit, I don’t pitch,” the manager said.

But several players said they were buoyed by Collins’ pregame speech Sunday, when he reminded players that no lead is safe in the American League; that they shouldn’t get discouraged when they fall behind. Collins said he sensed a letdown in the dugout during Saturday’s 8-5 loss, when the Indians responded to every Angel run with a rally of their own.

“He didn’t say anything we didn’t know, but it’s nice to get that kind of encouragement from the top,” said right fielder Salmon, who hit his fourth and fifth homers. “He said Cleveland is hot right now, and we’re not, but we have to keep battling. We couldn’t cave in.”

ON DECK

* Opponent--New York Yankees, three games.

* Site--Yankee Stadium

* Today--4:30 p.m.

* Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090).

* Records--Angels 6-5, Yankees 6-4.

* 1997 record vs. Yankees--2-0

TONIGHT’S GAME

ANGELS’ KEN HILL (2-0, 0.00 ERA)

vs.

YANKEES’ DAVID WELLS (1-1, 6.75 ERA)

* Update--Injuries, flu and the presence of an opposing left-hander will force Collins to shuffle his lineup. Damon Mashore will get his first start tonight, replacing either Garret Anderson, Edmonds or Salmon, and Cecil Fielder will likely start at first instead of Erstad. Salmon will start, either in right or as the designated hitter. Hill has not given up a run in 14 innings, but he’ll be facing a hot Yankee team that has won five straight, including a three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s.

* Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.--Jack McDowell (1-1, 3.60) vs. Hideki Irabu (0-0, 1.80).

* Wednesday, 10 a.m.--Allen Watson (0-1, 10.38) vs. David Cone (0-1, 14.90).