Mike Napoli keeps Angels’ home run string going
Reporting from St. Louis -- When he shuffled his batting order nine days ago, Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said his lineup had the potential to “get deep in a hurry.”
It also has the ability to go deep repeatedly.
Mike Napoli’s two-run home run in the fifth inning against St. Louis on Saturday at Busch Stadium gave the Angels at least one homer in nine consecutive games, their longest streak with a homer since matching that feat April 21-30, 2009.
“Mike Napoli is starting to swing the bat like he’s always capable of,” center fielder Torii Hunter said.
Fourteen of Napoli’s last 19 hits have gone for extra bases, and his .688 slugging percentage since April 29 ranks fifth in the American League in that span.
But he’s hardly the only Angel driving the ball. Kendry Morales and seldom-used Kevin Frandsen each cracked two of the Angels’ five doubles Saturday.
“For a while we weren’t getting the extra-base hits like we were capable of,” Hunter said. “Now we’re starting to come through.”
Nevertheless, Scioscia said he wanted to see more steady offensive production, particularly from the top and bottom of the order.
“It can’t be one game here, one game there,” Scioscia said. “We have to get more guys swinging the bat to their capabilities so we can consistently pressure teams.
“If you only have guys in the middle of your lineup swinging, you’re pressuring teams once every third inning. We need more depth in our lineup and it’s going to take guys swinging the bats a little better.”
The better half
Brandon Wood was out of the starting lineup for the second time in three days, and Scioscia acknowledged that the slumping slugger’s stellar defense was one of the primary reasons he remained the everyday third baseman.
“That’s why he’s played a lot, not only because we want to give him the at-bats but he does a bring defensive element that’s important to us,” Scioscia said of Wood, who is hitting .157 with 36 strikeouts and only three extra-base hits in 121 at-bats.
Frandsen started at third base Saturday and went three for four, but the Angels remain committed to helping Wood establish himself in his first extended opportunity in the major leagues.
“Our goal with Brandon is obviously long-term to get him to be the player he can be,” Scioscia said, “so as we’re picking our spots right now we’re trying to give him a little bit of a break. I think it’s really as he needs it.”
Short hops
The Angels finally won a game with Hideki Matsui as their starting left fielder. They had been 0-4 with Matsui in the outfield before Saturday, when Matsui played there for the fifth time this season and the first time since May 5 against Boston. Matsui went one for four with a two-run single before being replaced by Reggie Willits in the seventh inning. … The grand slam Brad Penny hit against Joel Pineiro on Friday was only the second the Angels have given up by an opposing pitcher in club history. Fred Talbot of the Seattle Pilots hit the other one, against Eddie Fisher on July 9, 1969. Talbot also pitched a shutout in that game.
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