Right Move for the Wrong Reason

It’s not often the third-base coach flashes a bunt sign and the ball is hit to the warning track, but that’s what happened to Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina in Thursday night’s 12-2 victory over the Oakland A’s.

With a 4-2 lead, runners on first and second and no outs in the seventh inning, DiSarcina was ordered to bunt, but with one exception: if the A’s put on the “wheel” play, in which the third baseman charges and the shortstop covers third, DiSarcina was to swing away.

Oakland shortstop Kurt Abbott broke for third as pitcher Blake Stein went into his motion, but Abbott stopped after a few steps. DiSarcina believed the wheel play was on, so he ripped a two-run double to the gap in right-center.

“[The shortstop] faked me out, so I swung and wound up with a double,” said DiSarcina, who broke an 0-for-9 slump with the hit. “That’s baseball for you. You haven’t got a hit for a while, you’re thinking way too much at the plate and you just react to something and get a hit.”

Manager Terry Collins said the play was a prime example of why DiSarcina might be a manager some day.

“You don’t normally see a ‘slug bunt’ hit that far, but Gary is an alert player,” Collins said. “He saw the shortstop break, so he just tried to shorten his swing and make good contact.”

*

Whatever Jack McDowell’s arm problem is, it will apparently remain between him and his elbow.

McDowell gave up two runs on six hits in five innings Thursday night, but his return from the disabled list was marked by elbow discomfort, which prompted Collins to skip McDowell’s next start.

The veteran right-hander wasn’t in the mood to discuss his status Friday though. Asked how his elbow felt when he got up in the morning, McDowell said, “It feels like. . . . It’s gonna feel like . . . the rest of my career. I’m just going to have to deal with it, so leave me alone.”

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ ALLEN WATSON (3-4, 7.17 ERA) vs. TWINS’ LaTROY HAWKINS (2-4, 5.26 ERA)

Edison Field, 7 p.m.

TV--Fox Sports West. Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090), KIK-FM (94.3).

* Update--Phil Nevin suffered a deep gash on the outside of his right index finger while assembling a bed for his daughter this week, and the cut required five stitches to close. But Nevin was able to catch against the Twins on Friday night. Watson is coming off his worst start of the season, a three-inning, seven-run, 10-hit performance in an 11-2 loss to Detroit on Monday night that snapped the left-hander’s two-game win streak. Angel left fielder Darin Erstad had a 13-for-25 streak entering Friday night’s game against Minnesota, raising his average from .309 to .337.

Tickets--(714) 634-2000.