GM Won’t Blame Classic

When Major League Baseball announced the inclusion of its players into the inaugural World Baseball Classic, a main concern for teams was the threat of injuries before the season started.

For the Angels, the Classic may have played a role in a crucial August injury.

But a day after learning that ace Bartolo Colon probably would be shelved for the rest of the season because of a partial tear of his right rotator cuff, General Manager Bill Stoneman was hesitant to put blame on the tournament.

“I don’t know if it’s fair to pin anything on the World Baseball Classic,” Stoneman said. “But knowing what we know now, would we have preferred to have had him in our camp? Yes.”

After a Cy Young Award-winning 2005 season, Colon stalled in the playoffs, suffering a shoulder tear. He announced himself fit for this year and made three starts for the Dominican Republic in the classic in March.

Colon, 33, opened the regular season with the Angels, laboring through three mediocre starts before being put on the disabled list for two months because of an inflamed shoulder.

He returned to make seven starts but never regained the velocity of his fastball.

Now after the diagnosis by Dr. Lewis Yocum, Colon hopes to avoid surgery with an aggressive rehabilitation that will include muscle strength and range of motion exercises.

Manager Mike Scioscia says he is hopeful that Colon can begin throwing before the start of spring training.

“There’s never going to be a day where you go, he’s back and he’s fine,” Scioscia said. “This is something he’s going to have to stay on top of for the rest of his career.”

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Brendan Donnelly might not be in the same form that landed him an All-Star spot three years ago, but the reliever has impressed recently.

After giving up 12 earned runs in seven innings and eight appearances from July 1-28, Donnelly has pitched five scoreless innings since. “I’m still having upper back and neck issues, but it’s getting a lot better,” Donnelly said. “I’m able to make some pitches instead of going out there and throwing.”

On Thursday, Donnelly was summoned after Hector Carrasco and J.C. Romero combined to give up three runs in the seventh inning. He came in with two on and no out, got a double-play grounder and groundout, then added a scoreless eighth.

The Angels came back to tie with a four-run eighth but eventually lost, 7-6, in 12 innings.

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Chone Figgins, who has the lowest on-base percentage among major league leadoff hitters at .321 and is mired in a two-for-23 skid, was given the day off.... Rookie infielder Howie Kendrick, batting second for the fourth time in his career, doubled off the third base bag in the sixth inning, increasing his hitting streak to 15 games. Kendrick is batting .403 (25 for 62) during the streak.... Garret Anderson extended his season-high hitting streak to 10 games.