Erstad May Be Best Indicator of Team's Future

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA and JASON REID

July 15, 1999 12 AM PT

It simply is not true that for the Angels to score in bunches, all the planets have to be aligned, the moon has to be full and the tides high.

All it takes is Darin Erstad reaching base. There is a direct correlation between the leadoff batter’s recent surge and that of the Angels, who have averaged 5.6 runs while winning 10 of their last 15 games after scoring two runs or fewer in 10 of 11 games from June 7-19.

Randy Velarde, the No. 2 batter, has been a constant this season, with a .310 average and .385 on-base percentage, but Erstad has been more inconsistent--and unproductive.

Erstad hit .210 in May, and his average dipped to a season-low .228 on June 9, but he started to warm up in mid-June and reached full stride in July, a month in which he is batting .375 with a .413 on-base percentage. He is now tied for the team lead, as he should be, with 49 runs.

Put a hot Erstad and a consistent Velarde in front of No. 3 batter Mo Vaughn, and it’s no wonder the Angels have scored 38 runs in their last five games going into tonight’s interleague series against the Dodgers at Edison Field.

Vaughn is batting .216 this season with no runners on base, the exaggerated infield shift many teams employ with the bases empty against Vaughn robbing him of numerous hits.

But when there are runners on and teams have to play Vaughn more straight- up, the Angel first baseman is batting .358. He’s also hitting .324 with runners in scoring position.

“I told Ersty that you’ve got to go, because if you go, I can go,” Vaughn said. “He leads the ship, Randy spins him around, and I drive him in. We have to get a little wheel going.”

There was a stretch from May 23-June 30 when the Angels scored four runs or fewer in 30 of 34 games, and Manager Terry Collins was as frustrated as his hitters.

Besides regular Garret Anderson, he tried Velarde, Todd Greene, Steve Decker and Troy Glaus in the cleanup spot, a role the Angels have been unable to fill since Tim Salmon got hurt May 3.

Collins used Orlando Palmeiro as a leadoff hitter and a No. 8 hitter. Reggie Williams hit second one day and eighth a few days later. Andy Sheets, who hit ninth until Gary DiSarcina returned, hit second one day. Mike Colangelo led off one night.

“My ideas were exhausted,” Collins said. “I’ve taken every idea I’ve had since I started managing in the minor leagues and run with it.”

Finally, in the last three weeks, things have begun to click for the Angels, and it wasn’t because of some lineup brainstorm.

“Darin, Mo, Garret and Troy are swinging better, and Randy has been consistent,” Collins said. “We’re getting hits at the right time, and the pitching has been fine.

“When you’re hitting the ball, you go to the park and say to yourself, ‘I like our matchups today.’ When you’re not, it’s like it doesn’t even matter who’s on the mound for the other team. You don’t like it.”

Collins reacted strongly when asked whether the Angels had underachieved this season because so many key players are having subpar years or overachieved because they’re only 6 1/2 games out of first place despite injuries to so many key players.

“The thing about this business is we never take into consideration guys on the other side of the field,” Collins said. “[Coaches] Larry Bowa and Rod Carew and Mick Billmeyer have thrown so much extra batting practice they can barely [lift their arms]. Guys have worked their [tails] off.

“We’re like every team. We pitch good some nights, and we hit good some nights. There are no guarantees. Nothing is etched in stone. So we can’t worry about the last three months, only the next three.”

The last-place Dodgers (39-47) still are determined to challenge for the National League West title, though they know it won’t be easy. At this point, getting back to .500 and becoming a factor in the division race are seemingly more attainable goals. However, the Dodgers are thinking big.

“Why shouldn’t we?” reliever Pedro Borbon said. “When you look at the talent on this team, we should believe we’re capable [of winning the division]. We know we’ve got a lot of talent.

“It just seems like everything went wrong for us. When we pitched, the hitting wasn’t there. When we hit, we didn’t get the pitching. It was always something. But that’s all over now. Now, we have a chance to start over.”

Well, not exactly. The Dodgers still trail the first-place San Francisco Giants by 10 games in the division.

“Obviously, we have a lot of work to do,” second baseman Eric Young said. “We’re going to have to pick it up right after the break. Our problem has been that everyone seems to be slumping at the same time.

“With the guys on this team, I don’t think anyone could have expected that. But you can’t worry about the past. We’ve got a chance to do something right now.”

Right fielder Raul Mondesi has gone 102 at-bats without hitting a home run, and Mondesi has become more frustrated with each at-bat.

Mondesi’s average has dropped to .253 as his strike zone has expanded. He still leads the team with 19 homers and 54 runs batted in, but he has only one homer since the end of May.

“He’s just trying to do too much,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “When you get in a situation like this, that’s the normal reaction. You’re up there trying to get that hit to break out of it, and you wind up fighting yourself even more.”

Coaches Rick Down and Manny Mota have been working hard with Mondesi, but nothing is working.

Rookie catcher Angel Pena is listed as day-to-day because of the strained left forearm he suffered Sunday during the fight with the Seattle Mariners. Pena told team officials his arm felt much better Wednesday during a mandatory workout at Dodger Stadium. . . . National and American league officials are reviewing videotapes of the brawl, and disciplinary action might be announced today, a Dodger official said.

ON DECK

* Opponents--Dodgers vs. Angels, three games.

* Site--Edison Field.

* Tonight--7.

* TV--Fox Sports West tonight, Channel 5 Friday, Channel 11 Saturday.

* Radio--KLAC (570), KXTA (1150), XPRS (1090), KWKW (1330).

* Records--Angels 41-45, Dodgers 39-47.

* Series Record--Dodgers lead, 2-1.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (5-9, 5.66 ERA)

vs.

DODGERS’ KEVIN BROWN (9-6, 3.53 ERA)

* Update--The disappointing Dodgers, who ended the first half with a four-game win streak, couldn’t ask for a better scenario to start the second half on the right foot. They have their best pitcher going on his usual four days’ rest, because the All-Star break did not disrupt Brown’s normal routine, and in Finley, the predominantly right-handed hitting Dodgers will be facing a struggling left-hander who has given up 26 earned runs in 17 innings of his last four starts. Because so many role players have been starting for the Angels, their bench has been filled with players who should be in triple A, and it shows--Angel pinch-hitters are batting .184 (nine for 49) with one run batted in.

* Friday, 7 p.m.--Omar Olivares (8-6, 3.28) vs. Ismael Valdes (7-7, 3.36).

* Saturday, 1 p.m.--Steve Sparks (4-5, 4.68) vs. Chan Ho Park (5-7, 6.52).