Erstad Has a Big Fan in Gwynn

While the all-sports networks feed viewers a seemingly endless diet of home runs, San Diego Padre outfielder Tony Gwynn has been eyeing something different on his nightly television menu.

“I look forward to turning on the highlights every day and seeing what Erstad did,” Gwynn said of Angel left fielder Darin Erstad, who is on pace to break George Sisler’s single-season hit record of 257, set in 1920.

“It’s great what he’s doing, because in this era with all these home runs, it’s good to see a guy who goes up and hits the ball hard every time. To me, what he’s doing is the purest form of hitting--he’s going to left field, to right field, and hitting everything on the button. It’s like Hitting 101.”

Gwynn, who is recovering from knee surgery and hopes to return by August, is baseball’s resident professor of hitting, having surpassed the 200-hit mark in five of his 18 seasons and has compiled a career .339 average.

But even he is in awe of Erstad, who had three more hits Sunday and entered Monday’s game against the Padres with a major league-leading 152 hits, which put him on a pace for 267. Hit No. 153 came in the first inning Monday night, when Erstad led off the game with a double, and hit No. 154, a single, came in the fifth.

The last player to post 240 hits in a season was Wade Boggs for the Boston Red Sox in 1985, and the last player with 250 hits was Bill Terry for the New York Giants in 1930. Lance Johnson’s 227 hits for the New York Mets in 1996 was the highest output of the last decade.

“I’ve seen some guys go on tears, but man . . .” said Gwynn, who is getting a rare chance to see Erstad in person this week. “He is mentally sound, mechanically sound and obviously physically sound. I hope he keeps it going. I’d like to see him break the record, because that’s one of those marks everyone said couldn’t be broken.”

*

Cleanup batter Tim Salmon, suffering from an inflamed left shoulder, drove to Orange County to be examined by Lewis Yocum, team physician, and was scheduled to return to Qualcomm Stadium during Monday night’s game.

Manager Mike Scioscia said Salmon’s shoulder has been bothering him for several weeks, and that the right fielder irritated it again in the seventh inning Sunday, when he attempted a sliding, back-hand catch of Kevin Nicholson’s double to the gap.

Salmon, who was listed as day to day, has been having a subpar season by his standards, batting only .259 with 18 home runs and 49 runs batted in, but a team-leading 65 walks have helped him score 62 runs.

Though his throwing shoulder is not affected, Scioscia said Salmon’s left shoulder “is very important with his swing, because he really leads with the bottom hand.”

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Left-hander Kent Mercker, continuing his comeback from a May 11 cerebral hemorrhage, threw batting practice for about 12 minutes and reported no problems. Mercker will throw batting practice again Thursday, a simulated game early next week, and he hopes to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment late next week, with an eye toward an early August return. . . . Scott Schoeneweis, sidelined since June 17 because of a strained rib-cage muscle, will move to triple-A Edmonton for his second rehab start Wednesday. The left-hander will need at least one more minor league start after Wednesday’s game before being considered for the Angel rotation.

TODAY

ANGELS’

KEN HILL

(5-5, 6.47 ERA)

vs.

PADRES’

BRIAN TOLLBERG

(2-0, 2.59 ERA)

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, 2 p.m.

TV--Channel 9. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Since getting bombed for five runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings by Seattle on July 3, Hill has given up only four runs on 12 hits in 11 2/3 innings of his last two starts, a victory over Colorado and a no-decision against the Dodgers. Tollberg, a right-handed control specialist who was called up from triple-A Las Vegas on June 19, was named the league’s player of the week for June 19-25, when he went 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA in games at Arizona and Cincinnati. He has three quality starts in five big league outings. Padre closer Trevor Hoffman’s blown save Sunday was his first at Qualcomm Stadium in 50 opportunities dating to Aug. 4, 1998.