Scioscia Takes Heat for Game 1

Angel Manager Mike Scioscia planted himself firmly at the center of the controversy surrounding Garret Anderson, the Angel left fielder whom many believe should have caught Robinson Cano’s first-inning, three-run double Tuesday night, the decisive play in the Yankees’ 4-2 Game 1 victory.

If there is any blame for the play, Scioscia said, lay it on the manager and the coaches who, based on spray charts and advance scouting, positioned Anderson shallow and toward the left-field line for the 2-and-2 Bartolo Colon fastball that Cano, who bats left-handed, lined toward the gap and over Anderson’s head.

“Garret got a good jump and ran a great route,” Scioscia said before Game 2 Wednesday. “He played it well; the ball just beat him. The defense we were in, with two strikes, was to play in. It was all positioning. We were where we were supposed to be. The percentages say he hits soft to the line. That’s our mistake.”

Anderson did not speak to reporters after Game 1 and declined to speak on his way to the field to stretch before batting practice Wednesday afternoon.

A stiff lower back and sore left knee limited Anderson to the designated hitter spot for eight of the last 10 regular-season games he played, and some questioned why Scioscia did not start Juan Rivera in left field and Anderson at DH.

“Garret is healthy, and he is much more familiar with left field than Juan is,” Scioscia said. “When Garret is healthy, he’s a good outfielder, and he’s healthy now.”

Anderson was back in left field Wednesday night.

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When Darin Erstad was hitting second in the lineup, in front of Vladimir Guerrero, he called it “the easiest position in baseball to hit in.” Batting behind Guerrero, and being responsible for protecting the Angels’ most dangerous hitter, has been a different story.

In the 19 games Erstad hit behind Guerrero from Aug. 31 to the end of the regular season, he batted .237 (18 for 76) with one home run and nine runs batted in. After Erstad struck out in his first three at-bats Tuesday night, Scioscia dropped him from fifth to sixth in the order Wednesday. Bengie Molina hit fifth, behind Guerrero.

“Bengie’s been swinging the bat really well for the last month, and we wanted to take some pressure off Ersty,” Scioscia said. “Ersty is very demanding of himself and expects to rise to the occasion. We just told him to keep playing, and he’ll be fine.”

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Scioscia described his rotation as being “penciled in from this point on,” and that in a short series, “this is very fluid,” but he said the possibility of Colon coming back to start Game 4 on three days’ rest Saturday is “a real longshot.” Right-hander Paul Byrd is scheduled to start Game 3, and left-hander Jarrod Washburn is scheduled to start Game 4.

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With sinkerballer Chien-Ming Wang starting, the Yankees opted to emphasize infield defense by playing Tino Martinez at first base and using Jason Giambi at designated hitter. Bernie Williams moved from DH to center field, replacing Bubba Crosby.

Martinez batted ninth, with 17 home runs as a part-time player this season. The Angels have one player -- Guerrero -- with more than 17 homers.

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Game 1, televised by Fox, received a national rating of 6.0 with a 10 share and drew 9 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Fox’s first playoff telecast last year, Minnesota and the Yankees, got a 6.0/10 and drew 8.5 million viewers.

In Los Angeles, Tuesday night’s game got a 9.9/18. It got a 17.6/25 in New York.

Times staff writers Bill Shaikin and Larry Stewart contributed to this report.