Angels’ Peter Bourjos jams thumb while sliding into base

The Angels may have lost more than a three-game series to Pittsburgh over the weekend. They may have also lost their second-hottest hitter after center fielder Peter Bourjos was forced to leave Sunday’s game in the third inning because he injured his left thumb sliding into second base an inning earlier.

“It’s pretty sore. I jammed it pretty good in there,” Bourjos said.

X-rays were negative and Bourjos is listed as day to day. However, he said he doesn’t expect to fly with the team to Detroit on Monday, staying behind instead to be examined by hand specialist Steven S. Shin.

“When I hit the bag it went numb pretty quick,” said Bourjos, who jammed his hand against the base. “I thought I just smoked it on the ground until I saw the replay.”

Bourjos, who is batting .364 since coming off the disabled list two weeks ago, was injured breaking up a potential inning-ending double play. Two runners wound up scoring on the play, giving the Angels a 5-1 lead.

“Hopefully it’s nothing that serious,” said Bourjos, who has already missed 38 games this season because of a strained left hamstring. “Hopefully I’m back in a couple of days.”

Angels not counting on Madson

The Angels are growing resigned to the likelihood that Ryan Madson will not pitch this season. Madson saved 32 games for the Phillies in 2011, but he hasn’t appeared in a major league game since undergoing Tommy John surgery nearly 15 months ago.

“As the calendar turns, it becomes more of a possibility,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said of going without Madson. “I know Ryan’s frustrated. It’s definitely disappointing for us.”

Madson was expected back in late May after a pair of minor league rehabilitation assignments. But after pitching a perfect inning for single-A Inland Empire, Madson experienced renewed soreness in his right arm and was shut down before he could throw another game.

“He was so close, virtually ready to go,” Scioscia said.

Madson is throwing off flat ground again, but there is no timetable for his return to the mound. He will not accompany the team on its upcoming trip, reporting instead to the team’s training facility in Arizona for more specialized treatment along with right-hander Robert Coello (shoulder inflammation) and left-hander Sean Burnett (elbow impingement).

Strange souvenir

Whenever a player achieves a milestone, it’s customary to present him with the ball that was used to accomplish that feat. But that custom became a little more difficult to observe Sunday after Pirates rookie Tony Sanchez doubled to right in the second inning for his first major league hit.

The ball, rather than bouncing off the wall, became wedged in a gap below the out-of-town scoreboard. That cost the Pirates a run when baserunner Neil Walker, who had been waved home, was sent back to third on the ground-rule double. But it didn’t cost Sanchez his memento, because an Angel Stadium employee took a ladder onto the warning track between innings to retrieve the ball.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

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