Maicer Izturis

The Angels put sore-armed shortstop Maicer Izturis on the disabled list Saturday because of shoulder inflammation but they may not have a clear idea how long he'll be there until they return home Monday. "Preliminary reports are that it's going to take a little bit of time to calm down," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "He just needs to take a step back right now." Izturis, who is hitting .256 in 39 at-bats, aggravated his right shoulder diving for a ball last week.

OAKLAND - For the 11th time since 2010, Angels ace Jered Weaver threw at least seven innings and allowed one earned run or less, only to receive a loss or no-decision. Easing the sting for the right-hander Wednesday was Alberto Callaspo's two-out, two-run double to left field in the top of the 11th, a clutch hit that pushed the Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Kendrys Morales drew a one-out walk off A's reliever Jordan Norberto in the 11th, and pinch-runner Peter Bourjos took third on Howie Kendrick's two-out single to center field.

The Angels won the World Series with Troy Glaus, the prototypical slugging third baseman. In their scramble for a third consecutive American League West division championship, their new third baseman is Maicer Izturis. Izturis has no home runs this season. In 369 at-bats in his career, he has two. "We won a division with [Chone] Figgins as our third baseman," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "You have to look at how the pieces fit. Right now, Izzy fits as an everyday third baseman."

SAN DIEGO — There was a time this season when the Angels had too many outfielders. There was a time this season when the Angels fancied themselves World Series contenders. And then there was Sunday, when the Angels dropped back into last place in the American League West, when the second baseman forced into duty as an emergency left fielder botched the final play of the game. That the Angels lost a series to the bumbling San Diego Padres is bad enough. The Angels also lost Vernon Wells and Ryan Langerhans — probably to the disabled list — leaving them short-staffed in the formerly overloaded outfield.

If you ask Maicer Izturis , not all at-bats are created equal. Take his at-bat against the Rangers' Darren Oliver on Friday. Oliver got Izturis on a breaking ball — something the Angels infielder filed away for a situation such as the ninth inning Saturday, when he came to the plate with two out and the winning run on second. On Friday, Oliver's first pitch was a breaking ball. So guess what Izturis was looking for Saturday? "He went with the same stuff. A slider," Izturis said.

Reporting from Kansas City, Mo. -- Maicer Izturis was in the leadoff spot Wednesday night against the Kansas City Royals, and Manager Mike Scioscia hinted that it was not just as a temporary fill-in for Erick Aybar , who needed a night off after starting 52 of the team's first 55 games at leadoff. Howie Kendrick , who has hit second, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth this season, returned to the two-hole after going nine for 28 with 10 runs batted in over his previous seven games.

The Angels placed Maicer Izturis (inflamed right shoulder) on the 15-day disabled list for the third time this season Sunday, fueling more concerns about the utility infielder's durability and reliability. Izturis, who was injured diving for a hit Thursday night, had a career year in 2009, batting .300 with eight home runs, 65 runs batted in and 74 runs in 114 games. The Angels deemed him so valuable they gave him a three-year, $10-million contract. The switch-hitter avoided the DL in 2009 after being sidelined with six different injuries from 2005 to 2008, but now the "Fragile: Handle With Care" label is back.

With one eye on the shaky market and another on his injury-filled track record, infielder Maicer Izturis forfeited a shot at a starting job in free agency in favor of a guaranteed $10 million from the Angels. "He's never had the security of a guaranteed contract, much less a multiyear guaranteed contract," agent Peter Greenberg said. "He's very happy." Izturis, 29, set career highs in virtually every offensive category last season, batting .300 with eight home runs and 13 stolen bases.

Rangers 10, Angels 6 AT THE PLATE: Third baseman Maicer Izturis had a double and a home run, driving in three runs. Catcher Jeff Mathis, the only other starter to make the trip, had a single, a stolen base, a run batted in and a run scored. The Angels banged out 12 hits and stole three more bases, giving them 10 in 12 attempts this spring. But they were four for 14 with runners in scoring position. ON THE MOUND: The Rangers hit home runs off four of the six Angels pitchers, beginning with starter Dan Haren, who gave up a three-run blast to David Murphy in the second inning.

Reporting from Kansas City, Mo. — They've been called baseball's jockey infield, which seems appropriate since first baseman Mark Trumbo is the only Angels infield regular taller than 5 feet 9. But it seems appropriate in another way, too, since the diminutive trio of Alberto Callaspo , Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis is usually wielding the whip that makes the Angels' often-dysfunctional offense go. In Wednesday's shutout loss...

SAN DIEGO - With the Angels scrapping for the run that might have won Sunday's game, Manager Mike Scioscia essentially took the bat out of the hands of his hottest hitter, Mike Trout . Trout had singled twice and homered as he waited on deck in the 11th inning. The Angels had one out, Bobby Wilson on first and Ryan Langerhans at bat. Scioscia called for a sacrifice. Langerhans delivered the bunt, Wilson took second, and the San Diego Padres took advantage of the open base by walking Trout intentionally.

- Jered Weaver left Monday night's game against the Minnesota Twins after six innings with a new appreciation for Johnny Vander Meer, the Cincinnati Reds left-hander who in 1938 became the only pitcher in major league history to throw two consecutive no-hitters. Weaver gave up one run and three hits in an 8-3 victory that gave the Angels their sixth win in eight games, but after throwing a no-hitter against the Twins in Anaheim on Wednesday night, the right-hander had only enough in his tank to throw 89 pitches in Target Field on Monday night.

Too much of a good thing is not a good thing. Too much hot fudge can spoil the sundae. A current case in point is your Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. We have been giddy since owner Arte Moreno and his TV partners bought Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. Baseball fans and sportswriters love to win World Series on paper, and these two seemed to put the Angels under the bright lights in late October. But did they? Pujols is not the problem. Waiting for his first homer as an Angel is a sideshow.

The Angels position players took the field Thursday night with an old-school, slump-busting kind of look, their bright white uniform pants pulled to their kneecaps and their red socks worn high. Considering how that worked, they may resort to sacrificing a live chicken or tossing their bats into a pile and starting a bonfire Friday. Albert Pujols mashed three doubles, but the Angels failed to cash in on too many chances, stranding two runners in five of nine innings and going three for 12 with runners in scoring position in a 4-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium.

It's not typical baseball strategy to reduce the playing time of a 26-year-old, second-year major leaguer who accounted for 29 homers and 87 runs batted in as a rookie. But that seems to be what's happening to Mark Trumbo . The Angels sat Trumbo for a second straight game Tuesday, starting Alberto Callaspo at third base and underlining the point that the slugger's conversion from first base to third is still a work in progress. "I understood I wouldn't be playing every day, and that's what's playing out," Trumbo said after an extended practice session of fielding ground balls as infield coach Alfredo Griffin and Manager Mike Scioscia watched.

NEW YORK — Jerome Williams did a great job Sunday night of blocking out all the distractions he knew would come with making his Yankee Stadium debut on Jackie Robinson Day in a prime-time game televised nationally by ESPN. Then the second inning started. The Angels right-hander breezed through the first inning, needing 15 pitches to retire Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez, but he took a nose-dive over the next 12/3 innings, giving up five runs, five hits and three walks.

The Angels roughed up Mariano Rivera twice in three days. They did not have to face Alex Rodriguez or CC Sabathia. They still lost the series. So, since the Angels are a team with October aspirations, just how do they match up with the New York Yankees? "If you go by payroll, they've got us beat," outfielder Torii Hunter said. The city of New York went into full panic mode on Thursday, even though the Yankees beat the Angels, 6-5. Rivera had his third consecutive poor outing — this time giving up a three-run home run to Russell Branyan — forcing the fans of the spending champions to freak out about what might happen in the ninth inning come October.

The highly anticipated rains finally came in the 10th inning, as Saturday night turned to Sunday morning in the Bronx and chilly, soggy Yankee Stadium filled with the fingernail-biting tension of extra-inning playoff baseball. The Angels punched in the top of the 11th inning with Chone Figgins' run-scoring single. The New York Yankees counter-punched in the bottom of the 11th with Alex Rodriguez's score-tying solo homer off Angels closer Brian Fuentes. So on Game 2 of the American League Championship Series went, deep into the October night, until an ambitious and ill-advised double-play attempt by Angels second baseman Maicer Izturis in the bottom of the 13th.

NEW YORK -- The Angels got some good news regarding their bullpen Friday. General Manager Jerry Dipoto said an MRI test on Scott Downs' injured right ankle showed no significant damage, and the team's best reliever will not have to go on the disabled list. Downs, who twisted the ankle and had it stepped on while covering first base in the seventh inning of Thursday's 10-9 loss to the Minnesota Twins, was listed as day to day, and the left-hander is doubtful for this weekend's series in Yankee Stadium.

MINNEAPOLIS — Scott Downs hobbled out of the visiting clubhouse on crutches Thursday, symbolic of an Angels bullpen that was battered and bruised in a 10-9 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. With veteran right-handers LaTroy Hawkins and Jason Isringhausen unavailable because they were sore after pitching the night before, Hisanori Takahashi, Kevin Jepsen and Rich Thompson were tagged for seven runs and 10 hits as the Angels coughed up a six-run, fifth-inning lead. The last time the Angels surrendered a six-run lead and lost was on May 14, 1994, when they had a 7-0 lead against Seattle and lost, 10-7.