Scioscia Gives Salmon a Little Time to Think

Tim Salmon was not allowed to touch a bat Saturday night. Manager Mike Scioscia told him he didn’t have to be at Edison Field until 6:30 for the 7 p.m. game against the Dodgers. Sunday, Salmon was allowed to do a little light hitting in the batting cage, and nothing else.

“These are things that are so foreign to me,” said Salmon, who was benched for two weekend games because of his .211 average and .060 mark (three for 50) with runners in scoring position. “It’s so bizarre to be put in a situation like this, where you’re showing up to watch a game like a fan.”

This is what Scioscia wanted, three days when Salmon wouldn’t feel any pressure to start a rally, advance a runner with a ground ball, knock in a run with a clutch two-out hit.

It is not Salmon’s nature to ask for a day off, let alone two, but until he snaps out of the latest of a season full of slumps--he has four hits in 29 at- bats and hasn’t driven in a run since June 5--he can’t argue with Scioscia.

“There’s a point where your frustration gets to a level where you can come out of character, and that’s his biggest concern,” Salmon said. “Sometimes I can feel myself squeeze the sawdust out of the bat, so I can’t disagree with him. But I hate the fact that I can’t grind it out.”

Perhaps the Ballpark in Arlington, where Salmon has a .426 average, 14 homers and 46 runs batted in, will be an elixir. The Angels begin a three-game series against Texas there Tuesday.

“You do see the ball better in certain parks, but a lot of it has to do with the pitching staffs,” Salmon said.

“If the Rangers had the Yankees’ staff the last few years, would I still be raking in their park?

“A lot of that is relative, but you know what? That’s why I have [Sunday] off, I’m not supposed to analyze things.

“So I better stop talking.”

Garret Anderson knocked in the winning run with a 10th-inning single Saturday night, and Troy Glaus hit a game-winning two-run homer Sunday, but if Dodger Manager Jim Tracy were to pick a most valuable player for the weekend series, it would be Angel leadoff batter David Eckstein.

“He was a real pain in our side, and he has been the last two nights,” Tracy said. “The guy was in the middle of everything. That at-bat he had in the ninth inning [Sunday] was fantastic.”

Eckstein worked a six-pitch walk off Dodger closer Jeff Shaw to start a four-run rally in the ninth. He also drew a 10-pitch walk in the third, singled in the fifth and singled and scored in the seventh. The Angel shortstop reached base four times in five plate appearances Saturday night.

Eckstein was one of the main reasons Dodger starter Luke Prokopec needed 110 pitches to labor through five innings Sunday. The Angels had only one run and four hits against Prokopec, but their patience allowed them to get to the Dodgers’ weary bullpen early.

“He’s getting on base, working counts, and that’s a huge piece of the puzzle we need,” Scioscia said of Eckstein, who has a .392 on-base percentage.

“Even when he’s making outs, he’s going deep into counts. Prokopec threw 110 pitches. I bet Eck probably saw 25 of them.”

Actually, Eckstein saw 16 pitches in three at-bats against Prokopec.

“It’s my job to make the pitcher throw a lot of pitches,” Eckstein said. “The more pitches I foul off, the more I enjoy the at-bat.”