Salmon Does Right by the Angels

TORONTO — The Angels left their troubles behind for a day, using a sparkling start by Kelvim Escobar, some crisp relief by Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez, and a home run from right fielder Tim Salmon -- yes, you read that correctly, right fielder Tim Salmon -- to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0, in the Rogers Centre on Saturday.

A breakout offensive performance, this wasn’t; the Angels, who won for only the second time in nine games, managed six hits against Blue Jay starter Ted Lilly and two relievers.

But Salmon’s second-deck blast in the fourth inning, Robb Quinlan’s two-out, run-scoring single in the sixth and Vladimir Guerrero’s run-scoring double in the eighth were enough to back Escobar, who shut out one of baseball’s hottest lineups for 6 2/3 innings, giving up three hits and striking out six to improve to 4-2.

The Blue Jays entered with a .308 batting average, second-best in the American League, and shredded the Angels for 13 runs and 17 hits Friday, but they were overwhelmed by Escobar, who effectively mixed his five-pitch repertoire before being knocked out in the seventh.

A hard Shea Hillenbrand one-hopper nailed Escobar on the outside of the right ankle, and Escobar said the foot “went numb right away.” But the injury is not expected to affect his next start. Neither is the blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand, which posed no problems Saturday.

Hillenbrand’s hit put runners on first and second with two out, and Toronto catcher Bengie Molina, the former Angel, sent Shields’ first pitch to the wall in center, where Tommy Murphy caught it to end the inning, as the Angels preserved a 2-0 lead.

Shields pitched a scoreless eighth and Rodriguez a scoreless ninth for his ninth save, as the Blue Jays were shut out for the first time since last June 14. The Angels, who made 15 errors in their first 15 games, also tied a franchise record by playing their 14th consecutive errorless game.

“Great, unbelievable, that’s what the club really needed,” Salmon said of Escobar. “A performance like that, the way we’ve been scuffling on offense, is big.”

The much-needed victory lightened the mood in a clubhouse that had grown a little tense and quiet as the injuries and losses mounted.

Instead of having to dissect another impotent offensive performance, the Angels could laugh about how much smarter a hitter Salmon is after receiving an honorary doctorate from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix on Saturday, how long it will take the 37-year-old to recover from his first start in the outfield since July 25, 2004, and how awkward Quinlan looked sliding into second on a stolen-base attempt.

Salmon, who sat out 2005 while recovering from knee and shoulder surgeries, started in right so Guerrero could get off the artificial turf for a day. Though he made only one play, fielding Molina’s fifth-inning fly flawlessly, Salmon had an active day on the bases, adding a second-inning single and sixth-inning walk to go with his homer.

“Rolling out of bed is going to be tough [today],” Salmon said. “But it felt good to put on a leather glove and do something. It was fun. I felt like I didn’t miss a beat.”

Asked whether he planned to play Salmon more in right field, Scioscia said, “Yeah, as soon as he recovers from this.... It might take him a month to recover.”

And then there was Quinlan, who was thrown out on a second-inning steal attempt that ended with what could be described as a diving hook slide. Trying to avoid a high throw, Quinlan slid almost sideways to the inside of second, his knees buckling and his body flipping over as he was tagged out.

“He had dirt on parts of his uniform that I’ve never seen dirt on,” Scioscia said.

Said Quinlan: “It didn’t look pretty.”

Fortunately for the Angels, the rest of their afternoon did.