Vaughn Eases Frustration With Long Grand Slam

Mo Vaughn grounded into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded in the first inning Sunday. He tapped weakly to the mound in the third, struck out in the fifth and grounded to first in the seventh, looking more and more perplexed with each at-bat.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Mo is pressing, putting a sense of urgency on every at-bat to show he’s the cornerstone of the club,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said.

“He will be the cornerstone but without trying. Sometimes he tries too hard, but he can’t pick up the slack for other guys. I hope he can work through that.”

His at-bat in the eighth should help. Vaughn unloaded a weekend’s worth of frustration on reliever Mike Venafro, blasting a grand slam into the upper deck in right for his 36th home run and a 9-2 Angel lead.

It was only Vaughn’s sixth home run off left-handed pitchers, who have held the career .299 hitter against lefties to .201 this season. It gave him a team-leading 117 runs batted in but his first RBIs in four games.

“That felt like old times,” Vaughn said of the home run. “I don’t think I’m pressing or feeling a sense of urgency with every at-bat. When you’ve been hitting lefties as long as I have, it’s more frustration and anger that you’re not getting the job done.

“I’ve had a terrible year against lefties, and that’s why I’m hitting .280 [overall]. But if I have some success against lefties right now, it will help me get on track for next season.”

*

With his 43rd home run Saturday, Troy Glaus set a franchise record of 78 extra-base hits, breaking Doug DeCinces’ mark of 77, set in 1982. Glaus hit his American League-leading 44th homer Sunday and is attempting to become only the fourth third baseman in the last 50 years to win the AL home run title--the last was Graig Nettles, who hit 32 homers for the Yankees in 1976.

Glaus’ 43 home runs while playing third base--one of his homers came as a designated hitter--also tied the AL record for homers by a third baseman, set by Cleveland’s Al Rosen in 1953. The major league record for homers by a third baseman is 48, set by Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt in 1980.

*

Darin Erstad’s seventh-inning homer Sunday gave him 229 hits, the most in a season since Kirby Puckett’s 234 hits in 1988. . . . Scioscia knew the Rangers walked a lot of batters Sunday, but he was surprised to hear the actual amount. “Fourteen walks?” Scioscia said. “No way . . . we lost count.” . . . The Angels have used 15 starting pitchers this season, the most since they used a club-record 17 starters in 1967. . . . Ranger first baseman Rafael Palmeiro hit his 400th career home run Saturday. He couldn’t have done it without the Angels. Palmeiro has hit more home runs against the Angels and Tigers (36) than any other team, including five against Chuck Finley, and four each against Jim Abbott and Mark Langston. . . . The Rangers broke a franchise record by grounding into their 157th and 158th double plays Sunday.

ON DECK * Opponent--Oakland Athletics, four games.

* Site--Oakland Coliseum.

* Tonight--7 p.m.

* TV--Channel 9 Tuesday night.

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

* Records--Angels 80-75, Athletics 85-69.

* Record vs. Athletics--4-5.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ TIM BELCHER

(4-3, 5.29 ERA)

vs.

ATHLETICS’ BARRY ZITO

(5-4, 2.69 ERA)

* Update--The A’s won the first three games of a critical four-game series against Seattle before falling to the Mariners, 3-2, Sunday and slipping a game behind Seattle in the West. Oakland has won 16 of 21 games and has been led offensively by first baseman Jason Giambi, who is hitting .331 with 39 homers and 128 RBIs. Zito is 3-1 with a 1.23 ERA in four September starts and had a 23 2/3-inning scoreless streak at one point. The left-hander made his major league debut against the Angels on July 22, giving up one run on two hits in five innings of a 10-3 Oakland victory. Belcher, who is returning from a three-game suspension, is 2-1 in three starts since being activated in early September and has given up only six runs on 17 hits in 21 innings.

Tuesday, 7 p.m.--Scott Schoeneweis (7-9, 5.14) vs. Tim Hudson (18-6, 4.40).

* Wednesday, 12:30 p.m.--Al Levine (3-4, 3.46) vs. Gil Heredia (15-11, 3.98).

* Thursday, 12:30 p.m.--Lou Pote (1-1, 4.04) vs. Kevin Appier (14-11, 4.64).