Angels’ New Lineup Proves to Be a Real Hit

The Angels could gain momentum from Tuesday night’s 7-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians, a game in which a revamped lineup banged out nine hits and showed it could be emerging from a horrendous nine-game slump.

Then again. . .

“You never know, we could get no-hit [tonight] or we could get 20 hits; you can’t look at it like that,” center fielder Darin Erstad said. “It’s definitely a feel thing. You have to see what happens.”

Good things finally happened to the Angels on a chilly, 51-degree evening in Jacobs Field, where a crowd of 31,942 saw the Indians’ six-game win streak and the Angels’ four-game losing streak end.

Wally Joyner broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run homer to right-center off Indian ace Bartolo Colon in the fourth inning and left-hander Scott Schoeneweis made it stand up, gutting his way through an eight-inning, two-run, 10-hit outing to improve to 2-1.

Erstad and Troy Glaus each had two hits and the Angels scored more runs than they had in their previous four games--all losses to Seattle--combined.

“You hope it’s the start of something--guys having more confidence, guys understanding it’s early and we faced a Seattle team [for whom] everything went right. We have a chance to come out of this, learn from it, and hopefully never see it again.”

With the Angels hitting .188 and scoring 18 runs while losing eight of nine games, Manager Mike Scioscia made two major lineup changes Tuesday, taking Erstad out of the leadoff spot and Glaus out of the cleanup spot.

David Eckstein batted first, and Scioscia said the infielder will share the leadoff spot with left-handed hitting Orlando Palmeiro. Erstad hit second, Tim Salmon remained third, Garret Anderson moved to cleanup, and Glaus hit fifth. Scioscia said the changes are not temporary.

The Angels pounded the ball for much of 2000 with Salmon, Anderson and Glaus hitting fourth, fifth and sixth. Scioscia hopes a return of that alignment in the 3-4-5 spots will improve production.

“What we did last year had a lot to do with these changes,” Scioscia said. “And by connecting Erstad with Salmon, Anderson and Glaus, we feel this lineup will create more offense.”

Erstad hadn’t started outside the leadoff spot since Sept. 9, 1999. Scioscia used six different hitters in the second spot this season, but none provided much protection for Erstad. So Scioscia moved Erstad down a notch.

“It is significant when you take the best leadoff hitter in the game and move him to second,” Scioscia said. “But in my mind, this will enhance the offense.”

It had a sudden impact Tuesday, as Eckstein was hit by a 95-mph Colon fastball to open the game and Indian center fielder Kenny Lofton misjudged Erstad’s fly ball, letting it land beyond his reach for an RBI double.

Glaus stroked a two-out RBI single to center for a 2-0 lead, the Angels’ first multiple-run inning since a two-run seventh April 16, a span of 56 innings.

Cleveland tied the score with runs in the first and third, but Schoeneweis struck out Ellis Burks and got Wil Cordero to ground out with runners on second and third to end the first, and he retired Marty Cordova on a bases-loaded grounder to end the third.

Schoeneweis gave up seven hits in the first three innings but retired 10 in a row from the fifth through eighth.

“This is where Scott has made great strides--he’s making big pitches to [prevent] big innings,” Scioscia said. “He has more tools. He’s changing speeds better, pitching inside better, his slider has good depth to it right now. That’s the way we feel Scott can pitch, as opposed to the way he finished last year.”

The Angels took advantage of Indian reliever Paul Shuey’s two-base error to score two more runs in the eighth, and Salmon’s double and Anderson’s RBI single made the score 7-2 in the ninth.

“This team if fine,” Scioscia said. “This was one of the toughest spells we’ve had since I’ve been here, and the fact that it’s early in the season and came against division opponents magnified things. But I saw some good signs tonight that we’re turning the corner.”