Figgins Receives Some Rest, Needed or Not

Some might find it curious that in the search for an offensive spark, Mike Scioscia would deprive his team of one of its most consistent sparkplugs.

But that essentially was the move made Wednesday by the Angels manager, who said he had removed Chone Figgins from the starting lineup in an effort to rest the utilityman and insert the right-handed bats of Tim Salmon and Juan Rivera against Colorado left-hander Jeff Francis.

It was the second time in four days that Figgins found himself on the bench to start a game.

“To me, there’s never really a good time to have a day off unless it’s scheduled,” said Figgins, who had played in a team-high 76 games before Wednesday.

Figgins was hitting only .216 against left-handers but was not mired in a slump, his .253 batting average in June identical to his average for the season.

Nonetheless, Figgins acknowledged feeling some frustration that he hadn’t been more productive. His brother Demetrius, a former independent league player, had jokingly told him that maybe he should sacrifice a chicken.

“He said, ‘You’re having great at-bats and there’s nothing you can do about it but keep swinging the bat hard,’ ” Chone Figgins said. “For some reason, I’m doing that and it’s not finding holes.”

Maicer Izturis replaced Figgins atop the batting order Wednesday, hitting leadoff for only the second time this season.

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Scioscia acknowledged that the Angels have considered alternatives in their starting rotation, the most likely of which would appear to be demoting Jeff Weaver to the bullpen or releasing him to make room for his younger brother, Jered.

The elder Weaver (3-10) had strung together six consecutive solid starts before a disastrous outing Tuesday in which he gave up six runs and nine hits in two innings.

The younger Weaver won his first four starts with the Angels and improved to 6-1 with a 2.10 earned-run average with triple-A Salt Lake after pitching six strong innings Wednesday during the Bees’ 9-3 victory over Colorado Springs.

Asked whether Jeff Weaver would make his next start, Scioscia was noncommittal. Scioscia said that Jered Weaver, who struck out 11 batters Wednesday and has struck out 25 in his last two starts for the Bees, provided “some depth that I’m sure we’ll tap into at some point.”

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Garret Anderson was out of the lineup for a second consecutive day because of continued stiffness in his lower back that Scioscia said was related to the strained arch in his left foot.

Scioscia said he hoped that Anderson, who injured his back while rounding third base Monday, could return for the Angels’ weekend series against the Dodgers.