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Angels are displaying more depth

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Times Staff Writer

Alex Rodriguez isn’t here. Miguel Cabrera isn’t here. Mark Teixeira isn’t here.

But the team that shares the American League lead in home runs is here. The Angels, the team long billed as a big bat shy of World Series contention, hit four home runs Wednesday and whipped the Cleveland Indians, 9-5.

Mike Napoli hit his first grand slam, Vladimir Guerrero hit a three-run homer and Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman hit a solo shot, giving the Angels 14 home runs in their first 10 games.

In their first 10 games last season, the Angels hit six.

“There are some guys on this team that can hit home runs,” Anderson said. “I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for it.”

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The Angels still are about contact hitting, situational hitting and aggressive baserunning far more than they are about power hitting, Anderson said.

“The home runs, I think, are gravy,” he said.

Perhaps Wednesday was not the best day to judge the Angels’ power. As soon as Manager Mike Scioscia got to Angel Stadium, he said, he knew the balls would be flying.

“See those flags in center field? They were [blowing] straight out,” Scioscia said. “If you got something up today, it was going to keep going.”

Cleveland starter Paul Byrd got a fastball up in the second inning, and Napoli got his grand slam up, beyond the bullpens behind the left-field fence. Anderson and Kotchman tagged Byrd in the third inning, and the Angels led, 6-0.

After the Indians tagged starter Dustin Moseley (1-1) for four runs in the sixth inning, with Jhonny Peralta and Kelly Shoppach hitting home runs, Guerrero countered with a three-run homer in the seventh.

So, for an afternoon, the Angels didn’t have to worry about who their closer would be. After Francisco Rodriguez blew the save Monday and hobbled off the mound with a sprained ankle, and after Justin Speier blew the save Tuesday, the Angels arrived in the ninth inning Wednesday with a four-run lead. Speier held it.

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The Angels don’t have anyone on their roster who hit 30 home runs last season.

They do envision a balanced lineup in which Guerrero and Torii Hunter could hit 25 apiece and Anderson, Kotchman, Napoli, second baseman Howie Kendrick and outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. each could hit 15 to 20.

“I don’t think we’re built around the home run,” Scioscia said. “I think we have the ability to drive the ball more than we have in a couple years.”

Hunter has four home runs, Napoli three, Anderson, Kotchman and Guerrero two each.

“Any time you get homers up and down the lineup, it’s pretty good,” Napoli said. “We’re showing that right now. But we’re a team where everyone has a role -- moving guys over, going first to third, being aggressive. That’s who we are.

“We’re hitting home runs right now, which is good for us, but we’re a situational team. This is nice, but we’ll just play the game right and see what happens.”

Anderson called the Angels’ early power surge “just coincidence,” saying they do not play in a bandbox and laughing off a question about whether he could celebrate the team leading the league in home runs after 10 games.

“No,” he said. “We get paid for 162.”

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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