LA Dodgers & Angels

The Angels made another dip into their talent pool when they called up Kendry Morales from Triple-A Salt Lake following Monday's 3-2 loss to the Rangers.

Right-handed reliever Jason Bulger was optioned to Salt Lake to make room on the roster for Morales.

The 22-year-old Morales is the 10th player to be recalled by the Angels this season and the seventh position player. Morales, who has been playing first base for the Bees, will get his shot.

"He is certainly swinging well and will get the opportunity," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We will plug him right in."

Morales is hitting .317 with seven doubles, five homers and 29 RBIs in 41 games at Salt Lake.

"We've been talking about Kendry for 2-3 weeks," Scioscia said. "No one has endless rope but it will be exciting to see him."

Bulger allowed three runs in two appearances for the Angels.

Righting the ship:The month of May has not been kind to the Angels.

Entering Monday's series opener against the Rangers, they are just 5-14 this month and have been shut out three times. They've scored three runs or fewer in 11 of 19 games and have been out-homered 26-14.

Combine those numbers with a staff ERA of 5.84 in May and it's no mystery why the club has managed only a handful of wins.

Injuries have a role. After sitting out the previous five games, Garret Anderson started in left field Sunday against the Dodgers and he was back in the lineup as the designated hitter Monday.

Sitting 10 games under .500 and 5 1/2 games back in the division, the Angels realize they can't get it all back at once but they're hoping to reassemble the pieces necessary to get there and it starts with Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero in the middle of the order.

"We have to keep them together," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We have to keep them comfortable batting together."

Guerrero has been a one-man highlight show this season. He's hit safely in 15 of 18 games in May entering Monday and has 17 RBIs in his last 17 games and 25 RBIs in his last 26 games. The likeliest candidate to protect Guerrero is Anderson, who was sidelined last week by a strained left hamstring and is still bothered by a strained left arch.

"I think it is smart to slowly fold him back into playing left field," Scioscia said. "Hopefully this will continue to get better."

Anderson drove in Chone Figgins in his first at-bat Monday.

Solo act: Guerrero hit an RBI double into the left-field corner Monday to extend his hitting streak against the Rangers to 40 games. It is the longest streak against one team since divisional play began.

 

Next step: Bartolo Colon will throw a simulated game Tuesday, reaching about a 40-pitch maximum. The right-hander has been recovering from inflammation in his shoulder and has not started since April 15 when he pitched seven innings in Baltimore.

The club continues to take the slow approach with its ace.

"We have to see how it goes," Scioscia said. "The best case scenario is he will be able to get there and go. If it takes more than one [simulated game] then it does. But if there is nothing more a simulated game will do for him then he will move on."

Colon will not be held to a similar progression as in Spring Training when it may take as many as five starts to get fully stretched out. The Angels feel that Colon is closer to a minimum threshold to get back on the mound and would like to see him reach at least the 50-60 pitch range in a rehab assignment before getting another big league start.

"We don't want to risk any more starts [this season]," Scioscia said. "If we're confident that he can get to a 75-90 pitch range and go at least five innings, then we will consider him for a Major League start."

Slow going: Darin Erstad (sore right ankle) ran lightly, shagged balls and swung the bat Monday but has yet been cleared to run the bases.

"He had a great workout," Scioscia said. "We need him to carry that over to tomorrow."

On the farm: Kendry Morales continued to improve his stock with three hits in Salt Lake's 7-2 win over Oklahoma on Sunday. Morales had two doubles and a pair of RBIs and is hitting .318 in 40 games. Howie Kendrick went 2-for-4 and scored twice. Right-hander Steven Shell (1-1) earned his first win at Triple-A by allowing two runs on nine hits and a walk with five strikeouts over seven innings.

On deck: The Angels will play the second game of the three-game series on Tuesday at 5:05 p.m. PT. Right-hander John Lackey will face Rangers right-hander Vicente Padilla. Right-hander Jeff Weaver will start against Texas on Wednesday.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Scioscia got a new deal Friday to manage the Los Angeles Angels through the 2009 season.

Scioscia guided the Angels to a 95-67 record and their second straight AL West division title this year.

 

 

His previous contract extension, announced in 2003, signed Scioscia through 2007 with a club option for 2008. The new deal for Scioscia, who became the Angels' manager in November 1999, includes a team option for 2010.

Scioscia approached general manager Bill Stoneman and offered to extend his commitment to the team.

 

 

"I've got the best position in baseball if you want to manage," he said. "All my interest was to stay here with the Angels, and I'm very, very happy."

 

 

Both Scioscia and Stoneman said the Dodgers' search for a GM had no influence on locking up Scioscia.

 

 

"This is just really the culmination of myself wanting to offer a longer commitment," said Scioscia, who represented himself in talks. "I love it here."

 

 

Stoneman added, "It says a bunch about the stability of the organization. It makes it that much easier attracting free agent players."

 

The 46-year-old former major league catcher has a 520-452 record with the Angels. Scioscia has taken the team to postseason appearances in three of the last four seasons, winning the 2002 World Series.

 

 

Scioscia is the only Angels manager with three playoff appearances and tied the late Gene Mauch with two division titles.

 

 

The Angels have averaged a franchise-best 86.7 wins per season under Scioscia, whose 520 career wins are second-most in club history. Before joining the Angels, Scioscia managed the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque and spent one season as the Dodgers' bench coach.

 

 

He spent 15 seasons in the majors with the Dodgers, San Diego and Texas, and was part of the Dodgers' World Series championship team in 1988.

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Angels pitching coach Bud Black told the Dodgers on Tuesday he is not interested in being a candidate for their vacant managerial job.

Angels executive Tim Mead confirmed that new Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti called Angels GM Bill Stoneman to ask permission to interview Black.

"They went through the formality and followed protocol," Mead said. "Ned called and asked for permission and Bill gave it to him."

However, Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch said Black declined the opportunity, as he has with other past jobs, because he didn't want to have to move his family from the San Diego area.

The 48-year-old Black was hired as the Angels' pitching coach in November 1999. He pitched in the majors for 15 seasons and had a 121-116 record with a 3.84 ERA before retiring in 1995.

Black, who has never managed, spent the 1996, 1997 and 1999 seasons as an assistant to the GM for the Cleveland Indians. He was the pitching coach for the Indians' Triple-A farm club in Buffalo in 1998.

The Dodgers are also interested in speaking to two other candidates currently under contract with other teams. They are waiting to hear back from the general manager of one of the clubs, and received informal permission to speak to the other candidate, who they will not identify until formal permission is granted.

Colletti, assistant GM Kim Ng, vice president of scouting and player development Roy Smith and director of amateur scouting Logan White met with former big league manager Jim Fregosi for about three hours during the weekend in Tampa, Fla. Colletti was there to attend the wedding of his former boss, San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean.

Colletti, Sabean's assistant the past nine years, was introduced last Wednesday as the Dodgers' GM, and said his first priority was to hire a manager. The team has been without one since parting ways with Jim Tracy on Oct. 3 -- the day after the season ended.

The Dodgers had a 71-91 record last season -- one year after winning the NL West with a 93-69 mark. Paul DePodesta was nearing the end of a managerial search when he was abruptly fired as GM on Oct. 29.