Easley Reminds Team of One Past Mistake

The Angels have been on the wrong end of several lopsided trades over the years, and among the deals that have haunted them the most is the one in which they sent second baseman Damion Easley to Detroit for reliever Greg Gohr on July 31, 1996.

While Gohr retired in 1997 and accomplished nothing as an Angel, Easley went from an oft-injured underachiever to an all-star in Detroit, hitting 69 home runs and driving in 338 runs in three seasons from 1997-99.

Easley is having a more modest 2000 season (.264, 12 homers, 46 RBIs), but he continued to make the Angels pay for their mistake Monday night, smashing a two-run double to left in the fourth inning and an RBI double to left in the sixth to help the Tigers beat the Angels, 5-0.

“I’m happy for Damion,” Angel center fielder Garret Anderson said. “He was in a bad situation here, and they pretty much got rid of him. It was good for him to get out of here and get a new start.”

Easley, who only leads off against left-handed pitchers, also singled in the first inning Monday, as Detroit won its 10th consecutive game against a left-handed starter and improved to 43-29 in its last 72 games.

The Tigers, 9-23 on May 11, are now five games behind the Cleveland Indians in the wild-card race.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position where we can open the paper and see our names in the playoff hunt, and that’s the first time I’ve been able to say that since I’ve been here,” Easley said. “It’s been a lot fun. We’ve created a lot of optimism and fueled a lot of confidence.”

The Tigers have done it with a rejuvenated rotation, solid bullpen and defense--Easley leads AL second baseman with a .992 fielding percentage and has committed only four errors--and an opportunistic offense.

“No one is having a career year, but we’re finding ways to get it done as a team, to score a key run with two outs or get a key out in the field,” Easley said. “It all starts with good pitching, and our guys have kept us in games. It’s nothing magical. It’s been very methodical.”

*

Darin Erstad, limited to a designated hitter role because of a rib-cage injury for the last 10 games, was put through a vigorous defensive workout Monday afternoon in anticipation of him returning to left field today.

“It will be nice to have him here,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, alluding to the expansive outfield in Comerica Park. “You’ve got to cover some real estate here.”

*

The Angels will recall left-handed reliever Juan Alvarez from triple-A Edmonton and right-handed reliever Ben Weber from double-A Erie today. . . . Troy Percival pitched for the first time in six days Monday, giving up one hit in a scoreless eighth inning.

TODAY

ANGELS’

MATT WISE

(3-2, 4.11 ERA)

vs.

TIGERS’

BRIAN MOEHLER

(11-7, 4.00 ERA)

Comerica Park, Detroit, 4 p.m. PDT

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090)

* Update--The Angels can only hope that Wise’s 4 1/3-inning, six-run, 12-hit shellacking at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays last Tuesday was an aberration after the rookie right-hander’s first four starts, in which he gave up a combined 10 earned runs and 19 hits in 27 2/3 innings. Moehler has played a huge role in Detroit’s second-half surge, finishing August with a 2.13 earned-run average, the second-best ERA in the league for that month. The right-hander has won his last five decisions and is 8-2 with a 3.35 ERA at home.