Not Much Progress to Report

May is winding down, and the Angels are still within striking distance in the American League West, something of a miracle, considering the number of major injuries to key players.

For this, the Angels can thank their inclusion in a division of underachieving teams.

Wondered third base coach Larry Bowa the other day, “Has anyone ever won a division under .500?”

But how long can the Angels remain in contention without cleanup batter Tim Salmon, center fielder Jim Edmonds, shortstop Gary DiSarcina and a Mo Vaughn who, because of an injured left ankle, doesn’t always seem whole?

The Angels were picked by many to win in the West, and no one has conceded anything to the Rangers, Mariners and Athletics, “But you can’t have the same expectations as when the team is healthy,” center fielder Garret Anderson said.

“How far below that [the expectations go] I don’t know, but those guys are out for a long time. You can’t look at it and say, ‘We’ll be fine until they come back,’ because some of them might not be back.”

Anderson has filled in admirably for Edmonds in center, Andy Sheets has given the Angels more than they could have hoped for at shortstop, and outfielder Orlando Palmeiro made some significant contributions before yielding the left-field spot to Darin Erstad this week.

But the fact remains the Angels (19-23) are four games under .500, have had trouble sustaining offensive momentum and, if their starting pitching slips, don’t have enough firepower to outslug teams in most high-scoring games.

“We can’t really say we’re happy with the way we’re playing, but you can’t be totally bashing guys around here because they’re doing things they’re not used to doing,” Anderson said. “We want to win, but we have to be realistic too. It definitely hurts not having the people you should have.”

There is one upside, though.

“This can help some people grow and become stronger players,” Anderson said. “Because of the adversity we’re facing.”

*

Todd Greene brought a souvenir with him from Baltimore to Tampa Bay, and it wasn’t pretty. The Angel right fielder had a nasty welt--about six inches in diameter--on his left biceps, courtesy of Jason Johnson, who drilled him with a tailing fastball Thursday night.

“It didn’t start hurting until we got on the plane [Thursday night], and then it really ached,” said Greene, whose sixth-inning homer broke a 4-4 tie and helped the Angels beat Baltimore, 6-4. “I iced it, [but] it’s still a little sore and stiff.”

That didn’t prevent Greene from starting Friday night, but he batted with a shin-guard-like pad protecting his left arm. He doubled to lead off the fifth and scored the tying (7-7) run on Steve Decker’s double.

He wasn’t such a hit defensively, dropping Dave Martinez’s fourth-inning fly ball to the gap, a play that was ruled a double and allowed Tampa Bay to take a 7-6 lead.

TODAY

ANGELS’

STEVE SPARKS

(1-4, 5.91 ERA)

vs.

DEVIL RAYS’

WILSON ALVAREZ

(2-2, 2.97 ERA)

Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla., 3:30 p.m.

Radio--KIK-FM (94.3), XPRS (1090)

* Update--Sparks has been ripped for 11 earned runs on 14 hits in seven innings of his last two starts, and he has a good idea why--he hasn’t been changing speeds on his knuckleballs well enough. “All my pitches were between 68-71 mph,” he said. “I was concentrating on keeping the ball low, but not on changing speeds. My pitches have to go between 60-73 mph. That was bad on my part.” Devil Ray third baseman Wade Boggs, who had a strained hamstring, returned from the disabled list Friday night and collected hits No. 2,944 and 2,945, both singles.