Angels Add a Bat: Rivera’s

When Paul Konerko spurned the Angels last winter, the Angels shut their wallet. They wanted a big bat, to be sure, but they would not pay big bucks to a big name whose big years might have passed him by.

The Angels employed this test: Do we think you will be better than Juan Rivera? They said no to the free-agent hitters besides Konerko, then signed Rivera for two years and penciled him as an everyday player.

Now, after three months of offensive malaise and a renewed search for a big bat, they might try Plan A. After Rivera homered twice and drove in five runs in a 14-6 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday at Safeco Field, Manager Mike Scioscia said he plans to stick with the lineup that has propelled the Angels to a four-game winning streak.

The Angels erased a 5-1 deficit by scoring 10 unanswered runs, including seven in the sixth inning, their season high for runs in an inning. Rivera and Maicer Izturis had three hits apiece, and Vladimir Guerrero, Kendry Morales and Adam Kennedy had two each. The 14 runs tied a season high.

“We’re seeing guys swinging the bats well, and we want to keep them in the lineup,” Scioscia said. “I think we’re forming some continuity. We have a lineup that is multidimensional and much deeper right now. We need that.”

The lineup is odd, with three slap hitters preceding Guerrero, but a total of 34 runs in four games speaks for itself. The key, Scioscia said, is to establish depth sufficient for the Angels to succeed when Guerrero and Garret Anderson do not.

“We’re seeing that start to establish itself,” Scioscia said. “That way, there isn’t the pressure on a couple guys to pull that whole wagon.”

Rivera could pull, if the Angels don’t take the rope from him. Guerrero, who leads the team with 17 home runs, averages one every 19 at-bats. Rivera, with roughly half the at-bats as Guerrero, averages one every 21 at-bats.

Rivera still ranks third on the team in homers, with eight, one more than Anderson, trailing only Guerrero and Mike Napoli. He hit 15 home runs as a part-time player last season, tied for third on the team behind Guerrero and Anderson.

He can’t develop rhythm when he doesn’t play, he said. When he does play, he tends to produce.

In his last 17 starts, he has driven in 17 runs. He has started eight consecutive games, batting .414. In his last 17 games, he is batting .379, lifting his average from .229 to .281.

“Juan had a great day,” Scioscia said. “He’s been really swinging the bat well.”

So have his teammates, and so what could have been a disastrous day for Ervin Santana turned into a pleasant one. After Guerrero’s sacrifice fly gave the Angels a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, the Mariners scored five times against Santana in the bottom of the inning, including a three-run homer by Raul Ibanez and a solo shot by Richie Sexson, on consecutive pitches.

The Angels’ bullpen did not stir. Pitching coach Bud Black did not visit the mound.

“After that inning, I made an adjustment,” Santana said.

And what was that?

“Keep the ball down,” he said.

And so he did, pitching a season-high eight innings on an efficient 103 pitches. In five of his eight innings, he retired the side in order. He struck out six, walked one and stopped the Mariners while his teammates battered a quartet of Seattle pitchers. He has nine victories, one shy of the league lead.

The Angels have scored 10 or more runs eight times this season. Santana has started four of those games.

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Running it up

The Angels have outscored their opponents 34-9 in their last four games:

Date Opponent Result

* July 1 DODGERS 9-2

* July 2 DODGERS 4-0

* July 3 AT SEATTLE 7-1

* July 4 AT SEATTLE 14-6

Source: MLB.com