In 100 Dash, Erstad Second Fastest

Had his double come Friday night instead of Saturday afternoon, Angel left fielder Darin Erstad would have gone down in baseball lore with a guy named Heinie.

As it was, Erstad’s 100th hit in the Angels’ 61st game Saturday was still a considerable achievement--he reached 100 hits faster than any other player except Heinie Manush, who had 100 hits in his first 60 games for the Washington Senators in 1934.

Erstad’s reaction: “So?”

Yes, it’s safe to say individual achievements are not very high on Erstad’s priority list. He leads the major leagues in hits and multi-hit games (33) and has baseball’s second-highest average (.382), but all he cares about is winning.

“Let’s hope I’m not done at 100 hits,” Erstad said. “There’s a lot more baseball to play, and that kind of stuff doesn’t do anything for me. Let’s see where we are at the end of the year, when it really counts.”

Erstad has an appreciation for baseball history, but he admitted he had never heard of Heinie Manush. Nor did he see much significance in coming so close to his record.

“Seventy years from now someone will break my mark, and everyone will say, ‘Who the heck was Darin Erstad?’ ” he said. “You have to keep things in perspective. There’s a lot of baseball left.”

*

This season has seemed like one long hot streak for Erstad, who hit an amazing .449 in April and has kept a torrid pace through May and early June, mixing some power (12 homers, 13 doublesand 46 RBIs) with his high average.

“Needless to say, he’s been sensational,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He’s been as consistent a player as I’ve seen for as long a stretch as I’ve seen. It’s not like this is a hot stretch. He’s been as good as you can be for the first third of the season.”

Erstad knows hot--he hit .313 with 18 homers and 59 RBIs in the first half of 1998. He knows cold--hitting .255 with 14 homers and 76 RBIs in 754 at-bats from the middle of 1998 through 1999.

But the modest outfielder seemed a bit stumped when asked if he felt as if he were on an extended tear or if this kind of production should be considered normal for him now.

“Every day in batting practice I just battle to get myself ready to play,” Erstad said. “It’s not like it’s easy. For whatever reason, the hits are falling. I try to put good swings on balls, and sometimes they fall.”

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Right fielder Tim Salmon has gradually, almost quietly, emerged from a monthlong slump to open the season, raising his average from .203 on April 27 to .284. He had a two-run homer and a double Saturday and has eight multiple-hit games since May 23, but only once did he have more than two hits in a game.

“For me, it seems like I’ve got to get down so low, almost to ground zero, before I work my way back up,” said Salmon, a notoriously slow starter. “I come out of the gate trying to crush every pitch for a homer, then I gradually come back to where I want to be, and it seems like I snuck up on people.”

Salmon has 15 homers, 43 walks, 46 runs and 34 RBIs, and his on-base percentage is an impressive .412.

“I’ve been getting hits up the middle, not trying for home runs, and then the home runs come,” Salmon said. “That’s my game, being consistent over the long haul, and I’ve been doing that for a few weeks now.”

*

Tim Belcher started for the Angels’ triple-A affiliate Edmonton Saturday, going six innings for the Trappers in their 3-1 loss at Sacramento. He gave up three runs, four hits, struck out two and walked three.

Belcher, who has battled elbow trouble this season, could possibly be activated to pitch next Saturday for the Angels in Baltimore.

Ken Hill made his first start since going on the disabled list, pitching Saturday at Class-A Lake Elsinore against Lancaster. Hill threw 65 pitches in four innings, gave up two runs--both unearned--five hits, struck out three and walked one.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS

(5-3, 4.93 ERA)

vs.

DIAMONDBACKS’ ARMANDO REYNOSO

(4-5, 5.37 ERA)

Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix, 1:30 p.m.

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

* Update--Schoeneweis gave up four runs in the first two innings of his last start against San Francisco Monday night but recovered nicely, blanking the Giants over the next 4 2/3 innings of a 5-4 loss. Reynoso has faced the Angels once in his career, giving up one run on seven hits in eight innings of a 12-2 Arizona victory last June 28. Angel reliever Mark Petkovsek, sidelined since May 17 because of a viral syndrome, threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for Class-A Lake Elsinore Friday night and is expected to be activated for the Tampa Bay series beginning Tuesday.