Erstad Injures His Shoulder

Outfielder Darin Erstad looked great as he soared through the air to make a spectacular diving catch of Paul Konerko’s shot to the left-center field gap in Chicago on Sunday, but it turns out he didn’t exactly nail the landing.

Erstad tweaked his right shoulder on the play, and the injury, though not considered serious, was enough to keep him out of the lineup Monday night against the Blue Jays.

“The ground in Chicago was soft, so instead of hitting it and sliding, I landed with a thud,” Erstad said. “I have range of motion in the shoulder, but it’s sore, and I could feel myself cutting off my swing a bit. I’m not going to help the team by doing that.”

Erstad, who began Monday leading the American League in batting average (.472), hits (25) and multiple-hit games (nine), doesn’t think he’ll be sidelined for more than a day or two.

Garret Anderson, who missed Sunday’s game because of a sore left ankle, returned as the designated hitter Monday night, so the Angels started Orlando Palmeiro in left field and Edgard Clemente in center.

Both outfielders made outstanding catches, Clemente racing to the warning track to run down Craig Grebeck’s drive in the fifth and Palmeiro going to the track in left-center to catch Marty Cordova’s drive in the sixth.

*

Toronto General Manager Gord Ash had some harsh words for his pitching staff after the Blue Jays were bombed for 47 runs--the most runs Toronto has given up in three consecutive games--and 50 hits in three losses to Seattle over the weekend.

“So what if you can throw 97 miles an hour,” Ash told Toronto writers. “These guys are blessed with good arms, but what does that mean if you’re just going to throw it down the pipe? These guys have not understood the total dynamic of pitching, which also includes location and movement.”

The Blue Jay rotation includes several highly touted youngsters, but they began Monday with earned-run averages of 8.31 (Kelvim Escobar), 8.04 (Roy Halladay) and 7.31 (Chris Carpenter).

Toronto recalled two pitchers from triple-A Syracuse--John Bale and Clayton Andrews--in the last two days, and Ash won’t hesitate making more moves if his current staff doesn’t get a better grasp on the art of pitching.

“If they don’t, then they’re going to find themselves in Syracuse learning how to do it,” Ash said. “This is just not acceptable.”

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Closer Troy Percival said he felt strong enough to pitch Monday night, but Manager Mike Scioscia seemed very reluctant to use him for a third consecutive day, even though Percival threw only 10 pitches in each of his weekend appearances against the White Sox.

“Just because he threw 10 pitches doesn’t make him any fresher, because preparations [warm-up pitches] take a lot out of you,” Scioscia said, mindful of Percival’s off-season shoulder surgery and the team’s desire to conserve its closer. “It’s a long season. We’ve had frank conversations with him about the need to be completely honest with us.”

Percival was not needed because Toronto broke the game open with five runs in the eighth. Instead, Angel reliever Derrick Turnbow, a Rule 5 draft pick this past winter, made his big league debut, giving up a single and retiring the next three batters to end the eighth.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

JASON DICKSON

(1-0, 2.77 ERA)

vs.

BLUE JAYS’

FRANK CASTILLO

(0-1, 6.52 ERA)

SkyDome, Toronto, 4 p.m.

Radio--KIK-FM (94.3), KMPC (1540), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Control has been key for Dickson, who walked only one batter in his first two starts, a win against Boston, in which he gave up two runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings, and a no-decision against Toronto, in which he gave up two runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings. Castillo, a right-hander, limited the Angels to two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings and struck out six last Wednesday in Anaheim.