Angels’ tune not too catchy after victory

The seemingly inconsequential trade consummated by the Angels last week could have major implications in the wake of an injury Friday to catcher Mike Napoli, who grabbed the back of his right leg after stealing second base in the first inning.

Napoli walked gingerly off the field and slammed his helmet in disgust upon reaching the dugout, leaving the catching duties to Jeff Mathis during the Angels’ 11-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Angel Stadium.

Napoli’s injury was initially diagnosed as a strained right hamstring, and the Angels can only hope for a speedy recovery. Mathis is hitting .095 and has all of 38 games of major league experience, and the Angels don’t have any other options besides Robb Quinlan on an emergency basis.

The injury would have been easier to absorb a week ago, when the Angels still had veteran Jose Molina in the fold. But they traded Molina to the New York Yankees on Saturday for a minor league pitcher, leaving them with Napoli as their only proven major league catcher.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said the team would call up a catcher from the minor leagues today, most likely Ryan Budde from triple-A Salt Lake.

“We’re going to have guys that can do the job,” Scioscia said. “We’re very confident of that.”

Napoli was hitting .253 with nine homers and 30 runs batted in at the time of his injury. He had reached first base on Detroit third baseman Brandon Inge’s throwing error during the Angels’ six-run first inning, their biggest first-inning outburst since scoring seven runs against Toronto on April 29, 1999.

Napoli stole second and appeared to suffer the injury on the slide, immediately grimacing after reaching the bag. Mathis replaced Napoli and scored on Maicer Izturis’ double to left-center field, which gave the Angels a 6-2 lead.

Run-scoring singles by Vladimir Guerrero and Gary Matthews Jr. extended the advantage to 8-2 in the second inning, but Angels starter Jered Weaver eventually squandered most of the cushion before being relieved by Justin Speier with one out in the sixth.

Speier, Scot Shields and Darren Oliver combined for 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief against the team with the most potent offense in the American League.

Weaver (7-5) gave up 11 hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Angels, who maintained their four-game lead over Seattle in the AL West and won a series opener for the first time in two weeks. Chone Figgins had four hits to lead a 13-hit attack.

The Angels’ big first inning included run-scoring hits from five different players, including Matthews, whose RBI double down the left-field line ended an 0-for-19 skid.

Matthews drew bigger raves in the top of the inning when he made a leaping catch of Craig Monroe’s drive to deep left-center before banging into the wall. The play earned Matthews a standing ovation from the sellout crowd and helped Weaver escape a bases-loaded jam.

“That catch pretty much pumped up the whole team,” Weaver said. “That was just a momentum changer.”

Said Scioscia: “That’s huge. That’s four RBIs right there. You turn a 6-0 game into a 2-0 game with a play like that.”

Weaver still needed 27 pitches to get through the inning, after the first five hitters reached base on three singles, a walk and a catcher’s interference call on Napoli.

But after Carlos Guillen’s RBI single gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead, Weaver retired the next three hitters, with a big assist from Matthews.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com