Forgotten Gant Will Get Long-Awaited Start Today

Send the search back to base camp. Ron Gant has been found, and he will make his first start since Sept. 4 today when the Angels face a left-hander, Twin pitcher Johan Santana, for the first time in 10 games.

This was not how the Angels envisioned Gant’s role after acquiring the outfielder from Philadelphia for pitcher Kent Bottenfield on July 30. Gant was supposed to solidify the designated hitter spot and fill in occasionally in left field, adding even more power to an already potent lineup.

But Gant has done far more sitting than hitting. With Scott Spiezio and Orlando Palmeiro continuing to produce against right-handers, Gant struggling with a .213 average and the Angels facing very few left-handers, Gant has started only 16 of 41 games since the trade.

“I knew when I came here my role wouldn’t be as prominent as it was in Philadelphia, and I was OK with that,” said Gant, the Phillies’ everyday left fielder. “But not playing [regularly] is a little tougher than I thought. All I can do is go to the cage and work to keep my rhythm. It’s tough, but if anyone can handle it, I can.”

Manager Mike Scioscia said he has spoken to Gant several times in recent weeks in an effort to keep his spirits up.

“I know it’s frustrating for him because he’s very talented,” Scioscia said. “Even though his numbers aren’t staggering, he can still be a force in the lineup against left-handers.

“We haven’t lost confidence in him--Spiezio and Palmeiro have done the job against right-handers, so they’re going to play. Ron understands that, and I know that doesn’t make it any easier for him, but that’s one of the sacrifices you make on a winning ballclub.”

Gant, who hit 20 homers in Philadelphia and has five homers as an Angel, is in the final year of a five-year, $25-million contract. The 35-year-old would love to remain in Anaheim, but the Angels would probably consider signing him only if he’d be willing to take a significant pay cut.

“You’d have to be stupid to not want to play here,” Gant said. “The fans are great, the weather is perfect and you have to like the attitude of this team. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if it was up to me, I’d like to come back.”

*

Rehabilitating pitchers Jarrod Washburn and Seth Etherton will both throw simulated games today, after which the Angels probably will send them to the Arizona Instructional League to pitch in exhibition games.

Etherton, who has shoulder tendinitis, is on the 60-day disabled list and wouldn’t be eligible to return until October.

But the Angels might attempt to get Washburn, the left-hander who has a small stress fracture in his shoulder blade, ready to pitch against the predominantly left-handed hitting A’s when the Angels travel to Oakland for a four-game series Sept. 25-28.

*

Garret Anderson’s three runs batted in Friday night gave him 100 on the season, moving him into the 100-RBI club with Mo Vaughn (109). Darin Erstad (96), Troy Glaus (91) and Tim Salmon (91) are also nearing the 100-RBI mark, and if they reach it, the Angels would be only the second team in major league history with five 100-RBI players. The other was the 1936 New York Yankees, with Lou Gehrig (152), Joe DiMaggio (125), Tony Lazzeri (109), Bill Dickey (107) and George Selkirk (107). . . . The Angels won’t need a fifth starter until next Saturday in Texas, and they are leaning toward reliever Lou Pote.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS

(7-8, 4.81 ERA)

vs.

TWINS’ JOHAN SANTANA

(2-2, 6.12 ERA)

Metrodome, Minneapolis, 4 p.m. PDT

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

* Update--The Angels committed four errors Friday night after committing three errors Wednesday night, an alarming trend that has been overshadowed by victories over Tampa Bay and Minnesota. Schoeneweis is coming off a rough week--he was pulled from Monday night’s game in the seventh inning because of a back spasm, and he suffered flulike symptoms Tuesday and Wednesday--but that won’t keep him from pitching today. The left-hander has been the team’s most reliable starter, pitching six innings or more in 21 of his 24 games. Santana is a left-hander with a 91-mph fastball and a decent changeup.