Glaus Will Keep Taking Fifth

When Tim Salmon stumbled at the start of the season, Manager Mike Scioscia moved him down in the batting order, since the Angels could not afford the luxury of letting Salmon recover his swing at a time the offense was faltering so badly. Troy Glaus has stumbled at a time the Angels are hitting well, so they can afford to let him swing away at the No. 5 spot.

Glaus stranded four runners in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. He is hitting .222 this month, with one home run and 23 strikeouts in 72 at-bats. As long as Glaus continues to draw his walks and Garret Anderson does not--an indication teams respect Glaus’ power enough so that they do not repeatedly pitch around Anderson--Scioscia does not plan to drop Glaus in the lineup for now.

But as each game becomes more critical, Scioscia said he would consider dropping Glaus against certain pitchers.

“As we get into September, we might have to move some things around to get some matchups in our favor. You don’t want to stall at that time,” Scioscia said. “But Troy is a presence in the lineup. He’s still doing a lot of things, working counts and getting on base, and it’s important to have a presence behind Garret.”

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In 87 major league starts, Jarrod Washburn has pitched two complete games. He has lost both, a four-hitter Saturday and a three-hitter in a 2-0 loss in Chicago last year.

“It’s not like I have 10 of them,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll be on the winning side of a complete game pretty soon.”

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Lou Pote is out of options, so the Angels can’t send the disgruntled reliever to the minor leagues next season without first allowing another team the chance to claim him on waivers. Pote asked the Angels to do that now, after they sent him to triple-A Salt Lake Friday, but they refused. While Pote said he did not believe he had a future with the Angels, General Manager Bill Stoneman disagreed, pointing to the contributions made by Brendan Donnelly, John Lackey and Scot Shields since being promoted from Salt Lake.

“Right now, I’m concerned about winning the American League West,” Stoneman said. “Lou Pote is an important guy to us.”

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Trade talk: The Angels do not plan to trade Scott Schoeneweis, their only left-handed reliever, unless they can get another left-handed reliever as part of a package. That’s unlikely, with left-handed relievers at a premium.... The Tigers scouted the Angel-Mariner series, and Detroit has made available at least three players who might help the Angels: closer Juan Acevedo and outfielder Robert Fick, who carry high price tags, and outfielder Wendell Magee, who does not.... If the Angels don’t make a trade by Wednesday’s deadline, they could by the Aug. 31 deadline. Players traded in August must first clear waivers; those traded in July need not do so.

TODAY

ANGELS’

KEVIN APPIER

(8-8, 4.50 ERA)

vs.

MARINERS’

JAMIE MOYER

(10-4, 3.01 ERA)

Safeco Field, 1:30

TV--Channel 9.

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

Update--Shortstop David Eckstein was hit by a pitch for the 18th time Saturday, tops in the majors. The Angels have an Eck-in-training too: Class-A Rancho Cucamonga outfielder Mike Campo has been hit by 30 pitches this season, a California League record.