Erstad Could Be Out for Five More Weeks

Darin Erstad will not return during the six-game homestand that starts Tuesday, and the Angels are preparing for the possibility that their Gold Glove center fielder could be sidelined up to five more weeks.

The Angels should learn more after Erstad, on the disabled list because of tendinitis in the right hamstring, is examined Tuesday.

Although the Angels anticipate Erstad will return this month, doctors have warned the team that hamstring injuries heal at a notoriously unpredictable rate.

“Hopefully, we’re talking weeks, not months,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

In trying to replace Erstad, Scioscia has used a different No. 2 hitter in each of the last four games.

While Orlando Palmeiro and Alex Ochoa did a superb job filling in for injured right fielder Tim Salmon last year, Eric Owens and Jeff DaVanon have not prospered as replacements for Erstad.

DaVanon, who started in left field Sunday, struck out four times and went 0 for 7 in the series. Owens is hitting .158 since Erstad’s injury.

Owens said he is trying hard to impress his new team, so much so that he has forgotten that the Angels did not hire him to be a hero. If he moves runners along and gets on base himself, Salmon and Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus can be heroes.

“I’m not the kind of guy that’s going to carry a team,” Owens said. “I need to realize that.”

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Ready or not, Aaron Sele is scheduled to make his season debut Friday.

He completed his minor league rehabilitation assignment with a rocky start for triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday, getting knocked out in the fifth inning of an 8-4 loss at Albuquerque. In four-plus innings, Sele gave up seven runs, six hits and five walks.

“He walked too many guys, but he felt his stuff was the best it’s been,” Scioscia said. “He’s ready to go.”

His fastball was clocked regularly at 87 mph Saturday, Scioscia said, up from 85 mph before his shoulder injury was diagnosed last season.

Still, Sele is a finesse pitcher who wins by throwing strikes and curveballs.

Sele had a 0-0 record with a 4.50 earned-run average in three starts at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, then was 1-2 with a 6.43 ERA in three starts at Salt Lake.

The Angels must promote him now because he has reached the 30-day maximum for a pitcher’s rehabilitation assignment.

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For the first time this season, Scioscia started Adam Kennedy and not Benji Gil at second base against a left-handed pitcher. Gil is hitting .091 against left-handers.

And, for the third consecutive time against a left-hander, Shawn Wooten started at first base ahead of Scott Spiezio.

Although Spiezio hit .368 against left-handers last season, he is batting .154 against them this season.

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Reliever Scot Shields left the ballpark clutching a stat sheet that showed him leading the American League in ERA.

As of Sunday, Shields led the league at 1.24, ahead of the Yankees’ Mike Mussina at 1.60.

Shields kept the sheet because he will not appear on it today. To qualify for the league lead, pitchers must average one inning per team game. After Saturday’s spot start, Shields had pitched 29 innings and the Angels had played 29 games. He did not pitch Sunday.