Guerrero Is Asked to Hit Cutoff Target

Right fielder Vladimir Guerrero has one of baseball’s strongest throwing arms, but his infatuation with it sometimes can lead to mistakes.

In the first inning Sunday, with Michael Young at second, Texas’ Hank Blalock singled to right. Guerrero, hoping to cut down Young, air-mailed a throw to the plate, but the ball sailed well over the head of cutoff man Darin Erstad, allowing Blalock to take second with no outs while Young scored.

That wasn’t costly, because starter Bartolo Colon pitched his way out of the jam, but it provided reinforcement of earlier conversations Manager Mike Scioscia had with Guerrero about hitting cutoff men.

“There are some mistakes that are aggressive in nature, like baserunning -- if you’re aggressive, you’re going to run into some outs,” Scioscia said. “He’s extremely aggressive in the outfield. We’ve talked to him about the importance of putting the ball in a slot where the cutoff man can get it.”

That message rang true in the fourth when Brad Fullmer went from first to third on Mark Teixeira’s single to right. Guerrero threw to third, and Teixeira tried to take second.

But Guerrero’s throw was cut off by shortstop David Eckstein, and Teixeira was eventually tagged out in a rundown between first and second. Fullmer scored on David Dellucci’s sacrifice fly, but the rundown play helped prevent a bigger inning.

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It wasn’t exactly a breakout game, but designated hitter Tim Salmon, one for 20 through five games, hit a key second-inning run-scoring single and singled in the eighth Sunday, lifting his average to .130 and his spirits even higher.

“It was nice to see some balls falling -- hopefully it will get me going,” said Salmon, a notoriously slow starter. “You get to the point where you tinker so much with your swing, you don’t feel comfortable at the plate.

“But I talked with Mickey [Hatcher, Angel batting instructor] Saturday night, and we decided to go back to my old setup at the plate. Keep it simple: See the ball and hit it. I felt I was much better today because I wasn’t thinking so much.”

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Third baseman Troy Glaus was pulled in the middle of the eighth inning Sunday because of a tightness in his left hamstring. Glaus, who had two hits and a walk, said he “slipped in the mud” rounding second on Salmon’s eighth-inning single, and Scioscia took him out as a precaution.... Catcher Bengie Molina, sidelined by a strain of his left hamstring, ran in the outfield again. Scioscia said Molina would try to run the bases aggressively tonight, and if he passes that test, he could play Tuesday night at home.