Painful Win for Angels

The franchise player, the one with the easy temperament and daily smile, erupted Friday night. The player the Angels can least afford to lose might be lost to injury, and he did not take the prospect lightly.

The night should have belonged to Jose Guillen, who homered and tied a career high by driving in five runs in an 8-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. But the story was Guerrero, who incited both benches to empty after believing the Mariners had hit him intentionally.

Angel Manager Mike Scioscia absolved the Mariners of blame. Guerrero, who declined to comment, left the game with his injured right wrist wrapped in a large bandage. After X-rays showed no fracture, the Angels crossed their fingers that the swelling would go down overnight and that he might return within a few days and without further testing.

In the seventh inning, with Guerrero batting, Chone Figgins on second base and the Angels leading, 5-2, Seattle second baseman Bret Boone visited reliever Bobby Madritsch, pitching in his second major league game. After Boone returned to his position, Madritsch hit Guerrero.

As Guerrero walked to first base, he pointed and yelled at Boone, who charged toward Guerrero. Benches cleared, although no punches were thrown, and Boone was restrained by teammate Edgar Martinez. Guerrero then left the game, after first base coach Alfredo Griffin said he noticed the swelling.

“He’s hit by rookies all the time when they come up. He said he’s tired of it,” Griffin said. “He said every year it’s the same thing -- a rookie plugs him, and they say the rookie is wild. He’s just upset.”

Guerrero pointed at Boone because he believed Boone told Madritsch to throw at him. Boone said he simply warned Madritsch that Figgins might steal third base. Scioscia said he believed the pitch simply got away and called the incident a “misunderstanding.”

“Apparently, I went into Madritsch to tell him to drill him. I feel I’m too far above it to comment on something so naive,” Boone said. “It’s ridiculous to think I would do something like that.”

Said Figgins: “We know Boone is not like that.”

With the Angels one out from victory, rookie Matt Hensley hit Seattle’s Justin Leone. Although Leone glared at Hensley, there were no incidents. “It wasn’t intentional,” Hensley said. “Bad timing.”

Scot Shields, who combined with Hensley for 3 2/3 hitless innings in relief of winning pitcher John Lackey, noted that Guerrero was “usually pretty quiet” and said the Angels hoped their superstar would not be gone for long.

“That would be a devastating blow,” Shields said. “The news is so far, so good, but he’s arguably the MVP of the American League.”

Guillen, seventh in the league in RBIs, got his last one with a single immediately after Guerrero left. And, if Guillen was the star, Figgins was the co-star, to the applause of one of his former teammates. Figgins reached base four times, with three hits that included the home run that put the Angels ahead for good.

Scott Spiezio played third base for the Angels last summer, and he smiled at the notion of doing it again this summer, this time in a pennant race. But, amid the wreckage of a dismal season in Seattle, one of the most popular Angels in recent memory said the team would have no business getting him back and displacing Figgins.

“Figgins has been doing an incredible job,” Spiezio said. “To take him out of the lineup would be a big mistake.”