Scioscia Enjoys Making Changes

Mike Scioscia was groomed to be a National League manager. Sure, he enjoys managing the Angels, but the longtime Dodger catcher was in his element Sunday. He made two double switches and used 20 of his 25 players, including every position player on the roster. He used two pinch-hitters and a pinch-runner in the top of the ninth inning, as the Angels tied the score, and moved seven players into new positions in the bottom of the inning.

“You got to hear the [public-address] announcer make, what, 5,000 changes in one inning? It seemed like he was kind of laughing,” said Scott Spiezio, who moved from first base to third. “But it works, and that’s the good thing. We’ve got a lot of guys who can play different positions in a pinch, and that works to our advantage.”

The Angels finished the game with Gold Glove outfielder Darin Erstad at first base, all-star third baseman Troy Glaus at shortstop and utilityman Jamie Burke, who shuttles between Anaheim and triple-A Salt Lake, at catcher.

“That’s just flat-out fun,” Erstad said. “That’s baseball at its finest.”

The Angels are again concerned about the health of left-hander Joe Torres, their top draft pick a year ago. Torres, pitching for Class-A Cedar Rapids, left his Friday start after one inning complaining of a dead arm. He will fly to Southern California this week to be examined by Angel medical director Dr. Lewis Yocum, General Manager Bill Stoneman said.

Torres was sidelined the first seven weeks this season while strengthening his sore left shoulder. Torres, 18, signed for a $2.08-million bonus and ranked by Baseball America as the Angels’ top prospect, is 0-3 with a 5.82 earned-run average in four starts at Cedar Rapids, with 14 walks and 14 strikeouts in 17 innings.

On the day after the first game of his minor league rehabilitation assignment, catcher Bengie Molina said he experienced some fatigue and tightness, not because his strained right hamstring was acting up again but simply because he had not played in five weeks.

Molina played five innings for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, with a single in two at-bats. He worked out with the Angels on Sunday, and the team expects him to play three more games at Rancho Cucamonga before activating him next weekend.

Scioscia, on a line drive by Adam Kennedy that appeared to hit the chalk marking the right-field line but was ruled foul by umpire Bruce Froemming: “I don’t know if it’s like Wimbledon. I don’t know if you can ask . . . well, it’s clay, so it would have to be the French Open. But I don’t know if you can ask the linesman to come out and check the mark.”