Finding other ways to win, Angels not concerned with power outage

OAKLAND – The Los Angeles Angels headed to Minnesota on Wednesday evening with an American League-low three home runs, or less than half the output of Colorado Rockies rookie Trevor Story.

The Angels won’t be stewing over the power outage during their off-day Thursday, though. After a 1-4 start, the recent turn of events — four wins in a row while outscoring their opponents 17-7 — at least has reassured them they can find other means to victory.

Now they need to figure out how sustainable those means are.

At the beginning of their current 10-game road swing, the Angels ranked at or near the bottom in the majors in most offensive categories, including runs scored, batting average, on-base plus slugging percentage and, of course, home runs.

The rough start raised questions about a lineup that has several troublesome spots beyond center fielder Mike Trout, designated hitter Albert Pujols and right fielder Kole Calhoun.

But it was too early to overreact to such a small sample size.

“Let’s talk in September and see where we are then,’’ Pujols told Paste BN Sports. “We’re going to hit. I guarantee you. We’re going to be OK, believe me.’’

A three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics ahead of this weekend’s series against the winless Minnesota Twins has put Los Angeles (5-4) atop the AL West.

“We know as a team we have a lot of different ways we can score,’’ said Calhoun, whose .387 batting average leads the club. “We haven’t hit the long ball yet but we know that’s one of our strengths, too, especially a couple of guys in the lineup. Right now we’re doing it the smaller way and that’s fantastic as well. Any way we can get wins."

Until Trout heats up – he said his timing is coming around – and the Angels show a consistent ability to manufacture runs despite an overall lack of speed, they will continue to arouse skepticism.

After all, they didn’t exactly fill the Oakland Coliseum with line drives despite facing only one frontline starter in Sonny Gray, and their average of 2.9 runs a game still ranks as the third-worst in the league, ahead of the Twins and A’s.

“I think this team is going to continue to improve as the summer goes on," manager Mike Scioscia said. “You can see things happening that are lining us up to be the team we think we can be, but we have a long way to go."

Much of the Angels’ recent surge can be attributed to an improvement in the rotation, with four of the last five starters allowing two earned runs or fewer. Matt Shoemaker rebounded from a poor season debut in which he gave up six earned runs in three innings with six innings of one-hit ball in Wednesday’s 5-1 win.

The Angels have depth in their rotation, which has allowed them to weather the injury losses of lefties C.J. Wilson and Andrew Heaney. On Monday, recently recalled Nick Tropeano delivered five scoreless innings.

“It’s like night and day," Scioscia said of the pitching turnaround.

The main concern remains an offense that ranked 12th in the AL in runs scored last season despite having two 40-home run hitters in Trout and Pujols.

The Angels passed on big-ticket free agents such as Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton because they were determined to remain under the luxury tax and are still saddled with $52 million of Josh Hamilton's contract over the next two seasons.

Instead, they're using a platoon of Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry, both of whom batted below .200 last season. They also traded for third baseman Yunel Escobar, who posted a .375 on-base percentage last season, and dealt for Andrelton Simmons, a brilliant defensive shortstop with a career OBP of .303. Second baseman Johnny Giavotella is batting .130.

The Angels need production out of first base and designated hitter, alternately manned by C.J. Cron and Pujols. Cron, who banged out 16 homers in 113 games last season with .739 on-base plus slugging percentage, is off to a 3-for-29 start.

Pujols, 36, has registered an OPS below .800 in each of the last three seasons, and his .244 batting average last year was not only his lowest, but 67 points below his career standard of .311.

With his extreme tendency to pull, Pujols – who strikes out about once every nine plate appearances – falls victim to defensive shifts, but says he’s not about to alter his approach.

“I’m not the only one. Everybody’s been hurt by the shift,’’ Pujols said. “Last year I lost 35 base hits to the shift. If you added those to my batting average, it would have been .290-something, close to .300.

“I know I can hit the ball the other way whenever I want, but I’m not going to change the way I hit and or what I have to do with my preparation at the plate.’’

And given their recent success, the Angels may not be inclined to make any changes either.

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