Angels’ Win Is a Head Shaker

The Angels located their offense but lost their best hitter during a friction-filled 5-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night at Angel Stadium, an exchange they’d rather have back.

Ryan Franklin’s 89-mph fastball struck Vladimir Guerrero behind the left ear flap of his batting helmet in the first inning, sending the right fielder crumpling to the turf for a few frightening minutes and sparking a verbal exchange between Angel Manager Mike Scioscia and Franklin that led to Scioscia’s ejection.

After Guerrero was helped off the field by trainers, Scioscia engaged in a heated conversation with umpires in which he called for Franklin’s ejection. Scioscia motioned toward Franklin on his way back to the dugout, prompting the pitcher to remove his cap and take a couple of steps toward Scioscia.

“The guy’s pointing at me, and I said, ‘You pointing at me?’ ” said Franklin, who insisted that he tried to throw the pitch to Guerrero high but over the plate. “And he said, ‘Yeah.’ So we had some words.”

Seattle players left the dugout to help restrain their teammate before tensions escalated, though the crowd of 39,074 continued to boo Franklin.

Guerrero, who never lost consciousness, was examined in the Angel clubhouse and taken to a hospital for precautionary X-rays, which were normal. Guerrero returned to the dugout midway through the game.

Scioscia said he was upset by the umpires’ contention that there was “bad blood” between the teams stemming from an incident in July when Guerrero yelled at second baseman Bret Boone. Boone visited pitcher Bobby Madritsch on the mound shortly before Madritsch hit Guerrero with a pitch on the right wrist, prompting the Angels to question whether Boone had ordered the move.

“[Franklin] should have been ejected if the umpires thought there was some bad blood,” Scioscia said. “Here’s a guy with great control, and the ball is behind one of our guys’ head. That’s disturbing.”

Said Seattle Manager Bob Melvin: “Obviously, with two strikes, he wasn’t trying to hit him. That’s just ridiculous.”

Angel starter John Lackey hit Randy Winn on the right knee in the third with what Melvin argued was a payback pitch. Winn suffered a contusion and had to leave the game in the fifth but said he “didn’t have a problem with it” even if Lackey meant to hit him.

“We hit one of their players,” Winn said. “It’s part of baseball, getting hit.”

The Angels also lost Adam Kennedy and Jose Guillen after Kennedy sprained his right knee in the fifth and Guillen suffered a strained right hip in the seventh. Kennedy is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam today.

Scioscia before the game shook up his lineup in an effort to revive an offense that had been shut out by Texas in back-to-back games, and the moves paid some quick dividends as the Angels pulled within 2 1/2 games of idle Oakland in the American League West and 4 1/2 of Boston in the wild-card standings.

Third baseman Dallas McPherson, in his first major league start, was three for three with a double and drove in a run.

David Eckstein, hitting second in the order for the first time in nearly three years, singled and scored during the Angels’ two-run second. Darin Erstad, dropped from second to sixth in the order, drove in the second run of the inning with a groundout that made it 3-0.

Unfortunately for Franklin, he probably will be remembered more for the pitch that hit Guerrero than the two-hit shutout he completed last week against the Angels in Seattle.

“I think everyone on our team, and surely most of them, knew there was no intention at all,” said Franklin, who allowed four runs and 11 hits in five innings. “I wasn’t even trying to come inside. I was just trying to go up in the zone.”

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Ichiro’s Quest

The progress of Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki in his pursuit of the single-season major league record for hits, held by George Sisler:

* Suzuki on Monday: Two for four vs. the Angels.

* Suzuki for the season: 238 hits, with 12 games remaining (on pace for 257 hits).

* Sisler’s record: 257 hits in 1920 for the St. Louis Browns.

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Angel Races

*--* AL WEST W L GB Oakland 87 62 -- ANGELS 85 65 2 1/2 Texas 82 67 5

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REMAINING ANGEL GAMES

* Today-Wednesday, vs. Seattle

* Friday-Sunday, vs. Oakland

* Monday-Sept. 30, at Texas

* Oct. 1-3, at Oakland

REMAINING OAKLAND GAMES

* Today-Thursday, at Texas

* Friday-Sunday, vs. ANGELS

* Monday-Sept. 30, vs. Seattle

* Oct. 1-3, vs. ANGELS

REMAINING TEXAS GAMES

* Today-Thursday, vs. Oakland

* Friday-Sunday, vs. Seattle

* Monday-Sept. 30, vs. ANGELS

* Oct. 1-3, at Seattle

AL WILD CARD

*--* W L GB Boston 89 60 -- ANGELS 85 65 4 1/2

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