Rivera Can Still Strut His Stuff

Mo Vaughn’s single to drive in a run in the ninth inning Monday night snapped Mariano Rivera’s consecutive scoreless innings streak at 44, and it was as if an alarm sounded in the Yankee closer’s head.

“It was a wake-up call,” Rivera said Tuesday.

Tim Salmon’s response: Where’s the snooze button when you really need it? The Angel cleanup batter had the misfortune of bearing the brunt of a more focused and determined Rivera, who blew two cut fastballs by Salmon for an 0-2 count.

Both pitches started over the middle of the plate before darting at least eight inches down and out of the strike zone, Salmon swinging and missing twice. Baseball players have a favorite term to describe this kind of stuff: filthy.

Salmon then flied to right field with two runners on, as the Yankees held on for a 3-2 victory, and he felt fortunate to even get enough of a Rivera pitch to knock it close to the warning track.

“How do you prepare for that? We haven’t seen that all spring,” Salmon said. “He’s the real deal. He throws cheese with movement. He’s electric. You never get something to hit, and his mistakes are way better than anyone else’s because his ball moves so much.”

Vaughn’s run-scoring single, which followed Gary DiSarcina’s single and Darin Erstad’s walk, marked the first run Rivera had given up since last July 21 against Tampa Bay.

Rivera, who pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings in eight postseason games and was named 1999 World Series most valuable player, seemed relieved the streak was over.

“It’s good to give up a run, because too many people were talking about the streak,” he said. “I’ll just start another one today.”

*

Tim Belcher took another step in his recovery from elbow surgery Tuesday, throwing a 38-pitch simulated game against live Angel batters. He’ll throw another simulated game Sunday, increasing his number of pitches, and hopes to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment next week.

“I may have had better stuff today than I had in all of 1999,” Belcher said. “Strength-wise, I feel a lot better now than I did at any time last year. Of course, looking at my numbers, that isn’t saying much.”

Belcher went 6-8 with a career-worst 6.73 earned-run average in 1999, a season in which he missed six weeks (June 27-Aug. 6) because of a broken finger and the final three weeks because of a sore elbow. This was the first time in his 13-year career he began the season on the disabled list.

The Angels have projected an early May return, but Belcher is shooting for the next Angel homestand, which begins April 24.

“He’s pushing the envelope because his body is letting him,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He’s on a faster track.”

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS

(1-1, 5.49 ERA)

vs.

DAVID CONE

(12-9, 3.44 ERA)

Edison Field, 7:30 p.m.

TV--Fox Sports Net 2. Radio--KCTD (1540),

KIK-FM (94.3), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Schoeneweis spent about half of 1999 in the Angel bullpen, but this will be the first major league start for the left-hander, who made the rotation despite going 2-2 with an unimpressive 7.48 ERA in six spring training games. Though he gave up 20 runs on 29 hits in 15 2/3 innings of his last three spring games, Scioscia felt Schoeneweis pitched well because he induced so many ground balls. “I just have to keep doing what I’m doing, let them hit my sinker that looks like a strike and falls out of the zone,” Schoeneweis said. Yankee third baseman Scott Brosius was scratched from Tuesday night’s game because of a strained rib cage muscle suffered in batting practice.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000