Angels’ Hideki Matsui sits out again
Reporting from Detroit — Hideki Matsui was given Sunday off in part “to take a break,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said, the third time in the last seven games that the designated hitter was out of the lineup.
Matsui could soon find himself on an extended leave unless he pulls out of a slump in which he has hit .204 with four home runs and nine runs batted in in his last 27 games.
Scioscia offered his most forthright assessment of Matsui’s season before the game, saying, “His downturns have been a little longer this year than we would have anticipated. It certainly doesn’t mean that he’s not going to be close to some of the projections we had; it’s that right now obviously there are some things he needs to get in gear in the batter’s box, and we’re confident he will.”
Though he maintained the 35-year-old Matsui’s bat speed was adequate, Scioscia said Matsui’s comfort level, balance in the box and timing were out of whack. Matsui acknowledged he wasn’t being the offensive force the Angels expected.
“I’m not satisfied at all, to be honest with you,” Matsui, who is hitting .244 with 14 homers and 55 RBIs overall, said through an interpreter. “I haven’t really been able to help contribute to help the team win, so in that sense I’m not satisfied.”
The next two days would be a good time for Matsui to start bolstering a lineup missing outfielder Torii Hunter, who will serve the final two games of a four-game suspension when the Angels return to Southern California to play Kansas City.
Scioscia said Matsui will play fewer games in left field over the season’s final two months because the recent addition of center fielder Peter Bourjos has given the Angels five other outfielders.
Mighty Maicer
Maicer Izturis went two for four with a triple in his first career start in the cleanup spot, though he didn’t have many run-producing opportunities.
He led off the second, sixth and eighth innings and stepped to the plate with Alberto Callaspo on first base in the fourth, when Izturis’ single moved Callaspo to third.
“Obviously when you look at the middle of your lineup you like to have the ability to drive the ball,” Scioscia said of his decision to bat Izturis cleanup, “but there are other things that are important as far as being able to hit with runners in scoring position, put the ball in play, be versatile to hit against all types of pitching. Maicer can do this.”
Izturis has now started at each slot in the batting order in his career. He has hit in every slot this season except the No. 9 hole.
Back to haunt them?
The Angels will get their first look at Sean O’Sullivan since trading him to Kansas City last month when the Royals open a three-game series Monday at Angel Stadium.
O’Sullivan has gone 0-2 with a 6.06 earned-run average in his first three starts with his new team. By comparison, Joe Saunders has gone 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA in his first three starts since being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Dan Haren (0-2, 3.60 ERA with the Angels).
Short hops
Reliever Scot Shields has allowed 10 earned runs in his last eight innings after surrendering three runs in the eighth against the Tigers. “Shieldsy’s still showing glimpses of the pitcher we know is in him,” Scioscia said. “Unfortunately, it’s not there on a consistent basis. It is something that he needs to clean up.” … Bourjos’ seventh-inning double snapped a 0-for-15 skid and gave him the first extra-base hit of his major league career.
ben.bolch@latimes.com
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