Angels keep falling into early holes
Reporting from Chicago — They say it doesn’t matter, that their job doesn’t change whether they are bestowed with an early lead or confronted with a deficit.
Lately, it seems as if Angels pitchers haven’t had to wonder which scenario will unfold.
Two third-inning runs by the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night at U.S. Cellular Field dropped Angels starter Joe Saunders into an early hole, the fourth time in the last five games that the Angels’ opponent scored first and ratcheted up the pressure.
“Obviously, if you get some early runs in a game it kind of helps as far as opening up your game while you’re out there,” pitching coach Mike Butcher said before the game. “You want to go out there and throw up zeroes whether you have early runs or not. It obviously has some effect on some of our guys.”
Jered Weaver said he isn’t one of them.
After the White Sox took a first-inning lead on the way to a 4-1 victory Tuesday, Weaver said his teammates’ scoring struggles did not affect his pitching.
“You go out and pitch your game if it’s 7-1, you’re winning, or it’s 1-1,” Weaver said. “I go out there and compete.”
Letting it slide
Butcher said Scott Kazmir threw about 35 sliders Monday, his most recent start, roughly four times as many as he had thrown in a game this season.
The quality of the left-hander’s slider matched the quantity, for the most part.
“To see him go out there and get some break on his slider, that was a positive and hopefully he can build off that,” Butcher said. “ … The only way to get a good feel for it is when you practice it in a game.”
After giving up two runs in the first five innings, Kazmir wilted a bit in his final 1 1/3 innings, giving up five more runs during the Angels’ 9-2 loss.
“I threw my slider a lot more and had some success with it and got hurt with it, so it’s just frustrating,” said Kazmir, who gave up three homers. “I’m tinkering with stuff here and there in between starts and just having to go through it.”
Another cold spell
Hideki Matsui is slumping again.
The Angels designated hitter, who shook off a slow start to hit .318 in June, began Wednesday batting only .200 with no extra-base hits in the first six games of this month.
Manager Mike Scioscia said what’s uncharacteristic about Matsui’s struggles is that he is not doing much with hittable pitchers.
“That’s usually not what Hideki is about,” Scioscia said. “He’s very, very good. When he gets a pitch he squares it up and in his dry spells, that hasn’t been happening as consistently as it could.”
Short hops
Mike Napoli made his first start at catcher since June 15. “He and Joe work pretty well” together, Scioscia said. “It’s a matter of getting back there and getting in the flow.” Napoli made an immediate difference, throwing out Juan Pierre, who was trying to steal second base in the first inning. … A limited number of tickets remain for the All-Star game home run derby Monday at Angel Stadium. The tickets, which start at $120 each, can be purchased at allstargame.com or angelsbaseball.com.
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