Hand Injury Hurts More Than Rivera

There is never a good time for the Angels to lose a productive bat: For two years, the team has struggled to generate enough offense to remain in playoff contention, and it’s trying to scratch and claw its way back into the division hunt this month.

But a left hand injury that sidelined Juan Rivera on Tuesday night and will probably sideline the left fielder for today’s series finale against the Orioles comes at a particularly vulnerable time; in seven games before Tuesday, the Angels were shut out twice and limited to two runs or fewer in two other games.

“I don’t know if one guy can make a difference, but our offense has struggled, we need to start applying pressure every inning, and taking Juan’s bat out of the lineup won’t help,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “The rest of the guys are going to have to pick up the slack.”

Rivera, who is batting .302 with a career-high 21 home runs and 74 runs batted in, and Vladimir Guerrero have been the Angels’ best hitters this season. Rivera has been sizzling since early July, a month in which he hit .364 with 11 homers and 25 RBIs in 26 games.

But he aggravated a four-year-old injury about two weeks ago, and it flared up again when he swung at a pitch and missed in the sixth inning Monday night. X-rays were negative, and Rivera was diagnosed with a strain in the back of his hand.

“It only hurts when I swing and miss,” Rivera said. “When I make contact, it’s fine.”

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There was no tip of the cap, but Darin Erstad noticed the warm ovation he received when he entered in the eighth inning at first base Monday.

“It might not look like I’m paying attention, but I appreciate it,” Erstad said. “That was very cool.”

Erstad, who made a nice lunging grab of Jay Gibbons’ grounder to end Monday’s 1-0 victory, will be a free agent this winter, and it’s likely his 11-year Angel career will come to an end.

After sitting out all but five weeks of this season because of a right ankle injury, and his September role limited to that of late-game defensive replacement, these could be Erstad’s final days in Anaheim, and he knows that’s the fans were acknowledging that Monday night.

“But I haven’t even thought about that,” Erstad said. “My mind is on getting back in this race. All that other stuff can wait for later. Right now, I just want to give Oakland something to think about.”

What would it take for the A’s, who have a 5 1/2 -game lead entering today and still have seven games left against the Angels, to start thinking about the Angels?

“If we win the next eight in a row?” Erstad said. “I don’t know