Salmon to Miss Series in Tampa

Right fielder Tim Salmon, who underwent an MRI exam on his injured left foot Thursday, will not join the Angels in Florida for their three-game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays this weekend.

Salmon received a cortisone shot and will undergo therapy over the weekend, then be reevaluated Monday. Salmon left Wednesday’s game after two innings because of a strained ligament in his foot.

Angel officials said Salmon left the clubhouse on crutches and wearing a temporary cast Wednesday only as a precautionary measure.

Thursday’s tests revealed no new damage, but Salmon will remain in Southern California.

Angel officials are hoping Salmon can rejoin the team in Baltimore or Boston next week.

Salmon is batting .279 and was among the American League leaders with seven home runs.

“If we lost Tim for three, four or five days, that’s one thing,” Manager Terry Collins said after Wednesday’s game. “If we lost him for three weeks, I don’t think we can replace him very easily.”

The options would vary.

Outfielder Damon Mashore had two hits Wednesday after replacing Salmon. Troy Neel, who played two seasons with Oakland, could be recalled from triple-A. He has hit five home runs for Vancouver this season. Erstad could play the outfield and designated hitter Cecil Fielder could play first base.

*

Baltimore Oriole Manager Ray Miller left town not too found of the Angels’ new stadium.

On Monday, he saw Oriole B.J. Surhoff robbed of a home run when a fan reached below the top of 18-foot right field fence to catch the ball at Edison Field. Umpires ruled it was a ground-rule double.

On Wednesday, Oriole Lenny Webster appeared to hit a home run just over the fence in left-center field, but the ball was ruled in play. Slow-motion replays showed the ball hit the top of the fence. Later in that game, the Angels’ Darin Erstad hit a two-run homer, but stopped at second base because he thought it might have been a ground-rule double, as a fan caught the ball on the rail.

All of which left Miller steamed.

“One thing I’ll say, it’s a beautiful stadium,” Miller said. “They’ve done a great job here. But it’s a . . . shame nobody can tell whether it’s a . . . home run or not when the ball goes up in the air.

“The ball Erstad hit, if it comes right back out, how do we know that it didn’t hit the top of the fence? Somebody needs to do something about this ballpark because it’s a joke. You should never penalize the visiting team when there’s a problem here. The home team has the right to put some glass up or put a light up or hire an extra umpire to sit on the outfield wall or something. It’s a joke.”

* Opponent--Tampa Bay Devil Rays, three games.

* Site--Tropicana Field.

* Tonight--4 PDT.

* TV--Channel 9 tonight and Saturday, ESPN Sunday.

* Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090).

* Records--Angels 9-10, Devil Rays 11-8.

* Record vs. Devil Rays--1-3.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ ALLEN WATSON (0-2, 11.08 ERA)

vs.

DEVIL RAYS’ WILSON ALVAREZ (3-1, 3.00 ERA)

* Update--Watson has struggled, like fellow starter Jason Dickson, who will miss a start on this trip to try to sort things out. Watson gave up six runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Devil Rays last Sunday. Alvarez gave up only one run in seven innings in an 8-1 victory over the Angels last Saturday. Tampa Bay won three of four games from the Angels in Anaheim last week.

* Saturday, 3:30 p.m.--Ken Hill (3-1, 2.92) vs. Rolando Arrojo (2-1, 5.48)

* Sunday, 5 p.m.--Jack McDowell (1-2, 4.18) vs. Dennis Springer (1-2, 4.43).