They’re on Right Road With Play Against West

The Angels completed their first swing through the American League West in fine fashion, tied with the surprising Texas Rangers atop one of the toughest divisions in baseball.

After finishing a 19-game stretch against division rivals Sunday with a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics, the Angels said they were emboldened by a strong start in which they swept Seattle and Oakland on the road and have cobbled together a four-game winning streak.

“To sweep Seattle and Oakland on their home turf, that’s something we haven’t seen around here,” said designated hitter Tim Salmon, who hit a three-run homer Sunday. “Maybe it says something about the club we’ve got.”

The Angels had not swept the A’s in Oakland since July 10-13, 1997. Now they turn their attention to the AL Central as they open a three-game series Tuesday in Detroit.

The Angels (11-8) knew they would face tough pitching from Oakland and Seattle. They did not expect a struggle against Texas, which won five of the first seven meetings between the teams.

“Texas is a little tougher than everybody thought,” closer Troy Percival said. “You never knew if they were going to pitch or not, and they’re pitching pretty decent. There was no misconstruing what was going to happen with that offense; we knew they were going to hit.

“If they keep pitching like that, they’re going to be tough all year.”

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The Angels are making contingency plans in the event that Kelvim Escobar’s broken fingernail prevents him from making his next scheduled start Friday against the Minnesota Twins.

One option would be to capitalize on the Angels’ off day today by flip-flopping Escobar and Ramon Ortiz in the rotation, with Ortiz starting Friday and Escobar’s start pushed back to Saturday. Another alternative would involve using a spot starter and allowing Escobar to return as soon as he is ready. Kevin Gregg, Aaron Sele and Scot Shields are the candidates to fill in for Escobar in that scenario.

Escobar, who split the nail on the middle finger of his pitching hand Saturday during his five-inning victory over Oakland, applied glue to the area Sunday and said he might have to pitch with a fake nail for the second time in his career.

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Right fielder Vladimir Guerrero sat out for the first time this season in an attempt to purge the tendinitis in his right knee that has bothered him for more than a week and has forced him to spend four games at designated hitter. Manager Mike Scioscia said he hoped that consecutive days off would allow Guerrero to return close to 100% for the series opener in Detroit.

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Garret Anderson sat out for the fourth consecutive game, a career high, because of stiffness in his upper back and is still considered day to day. Chone Figgins filled in for Anderson in center field and batted third in the order for the first time in his career. Figgins stole his team-leading fifth and sixth bases in the third inning. ... The Angels improved to 7-3 on the road, their best start since 1992.