ANGELS NOTEBOOK: INJURY PUSHES BACK DICKSON'S NEXT START.Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer ANAHEIM - The Angels will push Jason Dickson's next start back at least two days to allow the right-handed pitcher Noun 1. right-handed pitcher - (baseball) a pitcher who throws with the right hand right-hander baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played more time to recover from a strained left hip flexor flexor /flex·or/ (flek´ser) 1. causing flexion. 2. a muscle that flexes a joint. flexor retina´culum see entries under retinaculum. he suffered Friday night, manager Mike Scioscia Dickson, who was scheduled to pitch Thursday in Baltimore, is now penciled in to start Saturday in Seattle. The Angels, thanks to an off-day Monday, won't have to juggle their pitching rotation to make the change as the other four starters will be working on four days rest. ``It's a little better today,'' said Dickson, who has been told to rest and stretch the muscle until he visits team doctor Lewis Yocum today. ``We'll give it a few days and see what happens.'' Dickson, who was 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in his previous four starts, felt discomfort while warming up and left in the second inning having already allowed six runs. His performance was a good reminder of what can happen if a pitcher tries to compensate for an injury, something he said led to the shoulder injury that forced him to miss last season. ``I was cutting stuff off,'' he said of his delivery Friday night. ``This is the way I was throwing that created the arm trouble two years ago. It's frustrating for something else to flare up to become suddenly heated or excited; to burst into a passion. - Thackeray. See also: Flare , but it's minor.'' --Bullpen situation: The Angels have but one left-hander in their bullpen and Kent Mercker Kent Franklin Mercker (born February 1, 1968) is a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who has played for nine teams over his seventeen-year career. He currently is a free agent. is used in long relief. That has left right-handed setup men Mark Petkovsek Mark Joseph Petkovsek (born November 18, 1965 in Beaumont, Texas) was a Pitcher for the Texas Rangers (1991 and 2001), Pittsburgh Pirates (1993), St. Louis Cardinals (1995-98) and Anaheim Angels (1999-2000). and Shigetoshi Hasegawa Shigetoshi Hasegawa (Japanese: 長谷川 滋利) (born August 1, 1968 in Kakogawa, Hyōgo, Japan) was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Seattle Mariners from 2002 through 2005. to get left-handers out in the seventh and eighth innings. Thus far, it's a situation that hasn't worked well. Left-handers are batting a combined .485 (17 for 35) against Petkovsek and Hasegawa. Included is the three-run homer Hasegawa gave up to Fred McGriff last Saturday in a loss to Tampa Bay. ``Obviously it would be nice,'' pitching coach Bud Black said of having a left-handed setup man. ``But those guys are hard to come by. There's a lot of teams looking to fill that void.'' --DH rotation: Scioscia stayed true to his spring training pledge of using the DH role as a way to rest some of his regulars but still have their bats in the lineup. Mo Vaughn and Garret Anderson have been used in the spot and Saturday night it was Tim Salmon's turn. The right fielder, who homered in his first at bat of the season, has struggled since, batting just .207 with eight RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in . He's also .071 (2 for 28) with runners in scoring position. ANGELS vs. DEVIL RAYS Time: 1 p.m. at Edison Field TV/Radio: No TV; KUTY-FM (103.9), XPRS-AM (1090 Spanish) Matchup: In the finale of the three-game series, Kent Bottenfield (1-3) takes on former Cub Steve Trachsel (1-1). CAPTION(S): box Box: Angels vs. Devil Rays (see text) |
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