Angels fall further back in playoff chase

The finish line, just nine days away, is almost close enough to touch.

The goal, a playoff berth, is also within reach. But despite all that, Angels Manager Mike Scioscia admits his team’s destiny is no longer in its own hands.

“At this point, right now, we need help,” he said.

They didn't give themselves any Monday in Toronto, when four poor fielding plays allowed the Toronto Blue Jays to escape with a 3-2 win in 10 innings. All three Toronto runs were unearned.

The winning run scored when Torii Hunter, playing as a fifth infielder, backhanded Adam Lind's ground ball toward second base, then threw wildy to the plate, allowing Mike McCoy to scored.

That dropped the Angels five games back of the idle Texas Rangers in the American League West, their largest deficit in the division race since Aug. 19.

They’re four games behind Boston in the wild-card race, pending the outcome of the Red Sox’s night game with Baltimore. And since they have only three games left with Texas and they don’t play the Red Sox at all, neither deficit is one the Angels can make up on their own.

Mark Trumbo drops toe tap for leg kick, gets immediate results

It was a small change, unnoticeable to all but the closest observers. But so far it’s paid off big for the Angels and rookie first baseman Mark Trumbo.

After going hitless in four at-bats Friday in Minnesota, dropping his average to .240, the lowest it’s been in a month, Trumbo dropped the toe tap he had been using as a timing device since last winter and went back to the leg kick he used last season when he led the minors with 36 home runs at Triple A Salt Lake.

The change paid off immediately with Trumbo slugging two long home runs -- combined, the two balls traveled nearly 900 feet -- in his next two starts, helping the Angels to a pair of victories.

“I did it in Venezuela in winter ball because I was seeing a ton of breaking balls, and at the  time it helped me stay behind [the ball] a little bit,” Trumbo said of the toe tap. “But it seemed like I got a little stale recently.”

The leg kick is similar but not as pronounced as the one hitting coach Dwayne Murphy taught José Bautista when Bautista came to Toronto. After hitting 43 home runs in 400 games in Pittsburgh, Bautista has hit 74 in the last two years in Toronto.

Angels happy to have a day for healing

The Angels' lone off-day of the spring couldn't come at a better time given the nagging injuries and illness that left at least seven players unavailable to play Sunday. And two other players were able to hit but not play the field.

That's why Manager Mike Scioscia is basically locking the clubhouse Monday, forcing players who don't need treatment or who aren't playing in an 11 a.m. "B" squad game with Colorado to stay away. The Angels had split-squad games with Seattle and Cincinnati on Sunday, playing host to the Mariners in Tempe while sending another team 45 minutes up the freeway to Goodyear to play the Reds.

Outfielder Torii Hunter and infielder Maicer Izturis missed both games, taking their second consecutive afternoon off, Hunter with a bone bruise in his hand and Izturis with undisclosed tightness. Both took batting practice Sunday morning.

Two other outfielders, Peter Bourjos and Reggie Willits, were also unavailable to play in either of Sunday's split-squad games. Bourjos was a late scratch from Saturday's lineup with what was originally called groin tightness. It's a nagging problem Bourjos says he gets every spring, much as pitchers go through a dead arm period every March.

"I get a dead groin," said Bourjos, who was examined Sunday by Dr. Lewis Yocum, the team orthopedist. Bourjos also took part in batting practice but Willits, who came into the clubhouse wearing a wrap on his left calf and limping noticeably, did nothing but receive treatment. Willits was felled with calf tightness while trying to beat out an infield hit Saturday against the Indians.

"There’s a little pain in it. It’s mostly just really tight," said Willits, who was also examined by Yocum. "I'm hoping for the best. From what they said, it appears to be pretty mild. I hope they’re right."

Angels' offense getting in gear

Two days ago, the Angels' team batting average for the spring was just .215. Tuesday afternoon when they take the field for a Cactus League exhibition with the Texas Rangers, they'll do so hitting .253. That's what 29 hits and 20 runs in two days can do for an offense.

How hot have the Angels been? The eight runs they scored in the third inning against the Cubs on Monday matched their best output in a game this spring.

Rookie Mark Trumbo has been leading the surge. He went 4 for 4 with a home run and a massive double at windy HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Ariz., in Monday's wild ninth-inning to the Cubs. He's back in the lineup Tuesday and, at 7:30 a.m., the wind at Tempe Diablo Stadium was already blowing out, so Trumbo may be in for another big day.

Trumbo is tied with the Rangers' Ian Kinsler for the spring lead in total bases (21). He's also tied for second in home runs (3) and is third in runs scored (6) and runs batted in (6)

Regulars Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells are back in the lineup Tuesday but the Angels are resting Alberto Callaspo, who is still dealing with some shoulder soreness and has yet to play in the field this spring. As the designated hitter, Callaspo was 3 for 4 on Monday.

Ervin Santana will be making his second spring start on the mound. He'll be followed by left-handers Scott Downs and Hisanori Takahaski, two winter free-agent signings who loom large in the Angels' bullpen plans this summer.

Tuesday's lineup:

SS -- Maicer Izturis

LF -- Bobby Abreu

RF -- Torii Hunter

DH -- Vernon Wells

2B -- Howie Kendrick

1B -- Mark Trumbo

3B -- Brandon Wood

C -- Jeff Mathis

CF -- Peter Bourjos

P -- Ervin Santana

-- Kevin Baxter in Tempe, Ariz.

Cubs rally to wild, windy win over Angels

Bryan LaHair's single to right scored Fernando Perez from third base with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the Chicago Cubs to a wild 14-13 Cactus League win over the Angels at windy HoHoKam Park on Monday.

The rally was the second in as many innings for the Cubs, wiping out what was once a 10-run Angels lead and negating splendid performances by pitcher Dan Haren and slugger Mark Trumbo.

Haren didn't allow a ball to be hit out of the infield in his three-inning stint and Trumbo nearly hit two balls out of the state to help the Angels build a 12-2 lead after 5 1/2 innings.

Fernando Rodney, who followed Haren to the mound, wasn't nearly as sharp. The right-hander, who may soon be fighting to hang on to his closer's job, gave up two runs on five hits while getting three outs. This spring Rodney has faced 17 batters and more than half of them have reached base, seven on hits and two on walks.

But there were no struggles for the Angels on offense, especially when Trumbo was at the plate. The first baseman, competing for the final spot on the opening day roster, went four for four with three runs scored and two driven in. One of his hits was a mammoth home run over a four-story-high scoreboard that sits behind a grass berm well beyond the left-field wall. It was his third home run of the spring.

Angels' Mark Trumbo getting a chance to make his case

After a rare day off, Angels rookie Mark Trumbo is back in the lineup for Sunday afternoon's Cactus League exhibition with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

With regular first baseman Kendry Morales still rehabbing the ankle he broke last May, Trumbo is getting an extended opportunity to show what he can do. The slugger, who tied for the minor league lead with 36 home runs last season, has played in seven of the Angels' eight spring training games and tops the team in at-bats (18) and virtually every other significant offensive category including homers (2), RBIs (4), total bases (13) and slugging (.722). He is also hitting .278 and is tied with Howie Kendrick for the team lead in hits (5).

On the down side, however, he's struck out in a third of his at-bats and made the team's first error of the spring.

After losing to former bench coach Ron Roenicke's Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, the Angels face another old friend Sunday in left-hander Joe Saunders, whom the Angels traded to Arizona last July to get Dan Haren. Here's the lineup he'll face:

SS -- Erick Aybar

DH -- Bobby Abreu

RF -- Torii Hunter

LF -- Vernon Wells

2B -- Howie Kendrick

3B -- Maicer Izturis

1B -- Mark Trumbo

C -- Jeff Mathis

CF -- Peter Bourjos

P -- Jered Weaver

-- Kevin Baxter in Tempe, Ariz.