Anderson Is Back on Track

Garret Anderson said that he has experienced no side effects from the medication he’s taking for an arthritic condition in his upper back and that he hasn’t felt fatigued despite starting each of the 19 games the Angels have played since he came off the disabled list June 10.

But it was hard not to notice the tentative way Anderson ran the bases Tuesday night.

Twice he was on first when Jose Guillen doubled, into the right-field corner in the third inning and the right-center field gap in the sixth, and both times Anderson pulled up at third.

Neither arthritis nor fatigue was the culprit, though. Anderson has experienced a little tightness in his right hamstring, so Manager Mike Scioscia started Anderson at designated hitter Wednesday night instead of his usual center field.

“He had a little governor on when he was running,” Scioscia said. “He was guarding it. He felt he wasn’t at risk [of injury]. It was just a little tightness. He could have played the outfield [Wednesday night], but we’re trying to keep guys fresh.”

Anderson sat out six weeks because of an upper-back and neck ailment that was eventually diagnosed as arthritis, but he gathered no rust. In his first 18 games back, he hit .338 with four home runs and 13 runs batted in.

And he’s just getting warmed up.

“G.A. is nowhere near where I’ve seen him before,” first baseman Darin Erstad said.

“This is like spring training for him. You can tell by some of the funny swings he’s taken against some left-handers. That’s just timing. When he gets going, he’s going to be great.”

Said Anderson: “I’m not quite where I want to be ... but I’m not far from where I want to be.”

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In what seemed like an attempt to increase the pressure on the Angels to trade him, pitcher Ramon Ortiz said, “Everybody knows I’m not happy in the bullpen. You have five good starting pitchers, let me leave. It will be good for the team, for me, and for my family.”

Typical of Ortiz, he said it with a smile. The right-hander has such a happy-go-lucky demeanor and is so popular with his teammates, it’s hard to think of his personal dissatisfaction disrupting the team in any way.

“I don’t see this being a distraction,” Scioscia said.

“Ramon loves his teammates, and he loves being here. He has an issue with his role, and he’s been vocal with it, and that’s fine. It’s a tough situation....

“You can turn this inside out as much as you want, but the bottom line is, we know he wants to be a starter, we have him in our bullpen, and when he gets the ball, he’s going to go after hitters with everything he has. That’s the most important thing.”

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A team ravaged by injuries for most of the first half has now been hit by a flu bug. Designated hitter Tim Salmon, suffering flu-like symptoms, remained at the team hotel while the Angels took batting practice Wednesday, and Scioscia said he wasn’t sure Salmon would be available to play. Reserve catcher Josh Paul, suffering similar symptoms, made it to the park but returned to the hotel before batting practice.... The Angels, figuring you can never have enough Guerreros, acquired double-A outfielder Cristian Guerrero, a cousin of Angel outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, for double-A pitcher Austin Bilke in a deal with the Seattle Mariners. Guerrero was batting .224 with eight homers and 23 RBIs in 56 games for San Antonio. “He has a good arm, good speed and good power,” Vladimir Guerrero said. “He just needs to make an adjustment and not try to hit everything out of the park.”