Glaus Has a Scare in Angels’ Victory

CLEVELAND â€”  An unintentional hip-check from Cleveland first baseman Josh Phelps sent Troy Glaus sprawling into the dirt beyond the bag Saturday night, the Angel designated hitter landing hard on his right hand and the weight of the 6-foot-5, 240-pounder appearing to come down on his surgically repaired right shoulder.

Left fielder and No. 5 hitter Jose Guillen was already on his way back to Southern California to have his swollen right wrist examined, and now the Angels’ No. 6 hitter, a slugger who was playing in his sixth game after missing 3 1/2 months, was pulled in the fifth inning.

For a team that has succumbed too often to the injuries of Septembers past, this looked like the kind of one-two punch that could floor the Angels, one that could torpedo their playoff hopes.

But in an upset of sorts, at least for those Angel fans conditioned to expect the worst when it comes to injuries, Glaus appears to be OK.

The Angels beat the Indians, 6-1, in front of 23,786 in gnat-filled Jacobs Field, and Scot Shields, who threw three scoreless innings in back of starter Jarrod Washburn’s five one-run, two-hit innings, wasn’t the only Angel to provide relief.

So did Glaus, who said after the game his shoulder was fine.

“I came out for precautionary reasons,� Glaus said. “We wanted to ice it and keep an eye on it. I hit the ground, got up and thought, ‘OK, I’m going to be all right.’ Let’s make sure it’s OK, and I’ll get back in there [tonight].�

The Angels remained four games behind Oakland in the American League West, but they picked up a game on Boston in the wild-card race and now trail the Red Sox by 3 1/2 games. They’re not sure how serious Guillen’s injury is, but at least they know Glaus won’t be out.

“This game has a funny way of finding if out you’re ready to play or not,� first baseman Darin Erstad said. “It was a little scary when Troy went down, but he should be OK. It’s crazy how everything works out.�

Washburn showed he was more than ready to return from a 6 1/2 -week absence caused by strained cartilage in his rib cage. Pitching for the first time since July 20, a game in which the Indians bombed him for 10 runs and 13 hits in 5 1/3 innings, Washburn struck out six and walked one.

The left-hander threw 73 pitches, 46 of them strikes, and it appeared he could have gone another inning. But Manager Mike Scioscia’s decision to pull him after five looked wise after Shields, who leads AL relievers with 92 innings pitched, gave up three hits and struck out two in three innings.

“Shields has been amazing this season,� Scioscia said. “He has that rubber arm, he’s fearless, and he makes pitches. This guy has probably been our most valuable reliever because of all the roles he’s filled. His versatility makes everyone in our bullpen better.�

The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the second when Phelps doubled, Matt Lawton walked and Coco Crisp singled, but Washburn retired the next 10 batters.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to be that sharp,� Washburn said. “Hopefully, I can keep that up the rest of the way and help us get to the playoffs.�

Glaus doubled with one out in the fourth to spark a two-run rally that gave the Angels a 2-1 lead. Jeff DaVanon walked, and both scored when Phelps failed to glove Adam Kennedy’s grounder, a play that was ruled a three-base error.

Garret Anderson’s run-scoring single in the fifth made it 3-1, the Angels added two in the eighth, on an error and Erstad’s sacrifice fly, and Anderson, who had three hits, tripled and scored on Casey Kotchman’s single in the ninth to make it 6-1.

The Indians didn’t provide much resistance Saturday night, but a constant swarm of gnats on a muggy, 79-degree evening did. The bugs drove a number of fans out of the seats behind the Angel dugout and were a nuisance to players all night.

Glaus said the bugs were “disgusting, atrocious, but it’s not like you can do anything about them. One pitch, one went in my ear, and the next pitch, one went in my eye. There was a million of them, everywhere, and none of the bug spray worked on them.�

For Glaus, though, a million gnats were better than one injury bug.