There’s a Reason Salmon Has Found His Groove

To understand why Tim Salmon’s batting average hovered around .260 for the first four months of this season, one must go back to 1999, when the Angel right fielder missed 2 1/2 months because of a sprained left wrist and played the final 2 1/2 months with considerable discomfort.

Salmon said he had to “cheat” to hit the fastball when he returned from the disabled list last season, meaning he started his swing earlier than usual to catch up to high-velocity pitches, and that made him more vulnerable to off-speed and breaking pitches.

“Then you lose touch with what your approach was when you were doing well,” Salmon said. “Part of this season was getting out of the bad habits that were created last year.”

It took Salmon longer than he thought, but he has finally found his groove. Salmon has been on a tear for the last three weeks, going 34 for 75 with eight home runs and 20 runs batted in in the last 19 games, raising his average from .259 to ..296.

The cleanup batter, who homered in the sixth inning Wednesday night to tie Brian Downing’s franchise-record mark of 222 homers, has 26 homers and 70 RBIs and is back on pace for his usual 30 homers and 100 RBIs.

“I’m just trying to keep the same feeling every day--for me, it’s always been a feel thing,” Salmon said. “The difference lately is the balls I should be hitting, I’m hitting, whereas before I was fouling them off.”

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After Garret Anderson dropped a routine fly ball in the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over the Red Sox, a television camera followed the stone-faced Angel center fielder as he trotted off the field after the half-inning.

When he got to the dugout, a comment from Manager Mike Scioscia brought a grin to Anderson’s face. “I told G.A. to remember to read those directions in that glove,” Scioscia said. “You know, open-close.”

Never in Anderson’s major league career had he dropped a fly ball that he had camped under for so long. He did make a similar error in the minors once. “I have no idea why I dropped it,” Anderson said. “I had both hands up. I wasn’t styling. I just flat-out missed it. Fortunately it didn’t cost us the game.”

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A bone scan revealed a “little hot spot” in Jarrod Washburn’s sore shoulder, but the left-hander has not suffered a stress fracture or any major structural damage. The current diagnosis: tendinitis.

“The bottom line is that this is nothing that is making [the doctors] worry,” said Washburn, who is being treated with anti-inflammatory medication.

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It’s a good thing pitcher Ramon Ortiz is drawing a big league paycheck again. He’s going to need one to cover his phone bill from Tuesday night, after he outdueled his idol and fellow Dominican, Pedro Martinez, to lead the Angels to victory.

“I talked to my family back in the Dominican Republic for three hours,” said Ortiz. “I kept having to switch the phone, from my left ear to my right ear. I didn’t sleep at all.”

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Right-hander Tim Belcher, sidelined since July 3 because of a strained right flexor muscle, long-tossed for 10 minutes and threw for 10 minutes off the mound Wednesday and reported no discomfort. . . . Shortstop Kevin Stocker, who left Monday night’s game because of tightness in his left hamstring, should be ready to return to the starting lineup Friday night.