Guerrero to miss A’s series

Vladimir Guerrero’s right wrist, hit by a Josh Beckett 96-mph fastball Monday in Fenway Park, is too swollen and sore for the Angels right fielder to play in this series against the Athletics.

And that was good news.

“I thought I broke it,” Guerrero said Tuesday through an interpreter. “I feel a lot better, but it might need two or three days without playing to heal.”

Though X-rays were negative, doctors told Guerrero not to pick up a bat Tuesday or today. The Angels are off Thursday, and Guerrero, who is batting .364 with three home runs and 12 runs batted in, hopes to return Friday night against Seattle.

In assessing Guerrero, the Angels will have to weigh the obvious need for his bat with the risk of bringing him back too soon and saddling him with a nagging injury that weakens one of baseball’s most violent swings.

“I can’t tell right now,” Guerrero said, when asked if he thought the injury would linger. “I always swing hard -- that won’t change -- but I should be able to tell when I swing a bat again if it’s going to bother me more.”

Beckett’s fastball, which forced Guerrero to leave in the first inning, came on an 0-and-2 pitch and three pitches after Orlando Cabrera hit a home run.

“I don’t think it was intentional,” Guerrero said. “I’m not upset. It’s not uncommon to get pitched inside.”

Opponents seem to be making more of an effort to intimidate Guerrero this season. Guerrero has never been hit more than nine times in any of his 10 big league seasons; he has been hit twice already this season.

“Getting hit is part of baseball; it always will be,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Guys who crowd the plate are going to get hit occasionally, but the times we’ve seen Vlad get hit, it’s a byproduct of trying to pitch inside aggressively. Nobody likes to see a guy hit once, but it’s going to happen from time to time.”

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The Angels were still chuckling Tuesday about Monday’s pizza-tossing incident in Fenway Park, when a Red Sox fan, attempting to swipe a foul pop away from left fielder Garret Anderson, was doused by a beer and then pelted by a slice of pizza thrown by a fan two rows behind him.

The good news: The pizza was thin-slice from Papa Gino’s, not a deep-dish, Chicago-style slice from Gino’s East.

“I tell you what, if that was Gino’s East, that guy might have been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon,” Scioscia said. “Those things, man, you drop one on your toes, you’ll be in a cast.”

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Baseball has strict rules against uniform alterations, but Angels pitcher Joe Saunders, who attended Virginia Tech from 1999 to 2002, plans to honor the victims of Monday’s shooting rampage on the Blacksburg, Va., campus when he starts Friday night against Seattle.

“I was going to put a black V.T. on my hat, but I can’t do that,” Saunders said. “I’ll put a V.T. on my cleats and write Virginia Tech on the back of the mound.”

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Chone Figgins, on the disabled list because of two broken fingers on his right hand, took live batting practice for the first time Tuesday.... To make room for Jered Weaver, reliever Greg Jones was designated for assignment.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com