A Scheduling Adjustment for Holtz

OAKLAND —  Much of the focus regarding the new unbalanced schedule, in which the Angels will play American League West teams 58 times, has been on the big picture--how it will affect the division and wild-card races and whether interdivision rivalries will become more intense.

There are little-picture ramifications too. One came into focus in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday, when left-hander Mike Holtz, a curveball specialist who uses his fastball more as a set-up pitch, struck out Eric Chavez with an inside fastball to end the inning.

“You never try to go away from your bread and butter, but we’re facing these guys so many times, you want to go with something different,” Holtz said. “Over the course of the year, you can’t take the same approach with every team. You want to try different things.”

Knowing the Angels play the A’s 20 times and the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners 19 times each could spark some radical changes in Holtz’s approach.

“I want to utilize my fastball more, and I might even throw two, three or four in a row in RBI situations because they’re not looking for it,” Holtz said. “That’s the fun part of the game. They think they know what you’re going to do, and you counter with something different.”

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Only one other time in his 4 1/2-year major league career has outfielder Darin Erstad taken himself out of a game, so when he came out Sunday in the eighth inning, there was little doubt Erstad was in pain.

Erstad’s right rib-cage area was bruised by Mark Mulder’s 93-mph fastball Friday night and has been bothering him since. Erstad was 0 for 4 Saturday and was hitless in four at-bats Sunday, striking out twice.

“It just doesn’t feel very good, and I wasn’t very comfortable swinging up there,” Erstad said. “I know I wasn’t helping the team, so I had to get myself out of there.”

Erstad said he hopes to be in the lineup for Tuesday night’s home opener against the Rangers.

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If he had it to do over again, Jorge Fabregas wouldn’t have attempted to pick off a runner at third in the late innings of a close game as he did Saturday, when his sixth-inning throw hit Chavez in the foot, caromed into left field and allowed Chavez to score the tying run in the A’s 4-2 win.

“With the score and the fact we weren’t getting many runs off [A’s pitcher Tim Hudson], I would be hesitant to zip it down there,” Fabregas said.

Manager Mike Scioscia called the play, which Fabregas said is designed more to prevent the runner from getting a good lead than to pick him off.

“Mike wants us to throw--that’s aggressive baseball,” Fabregas said. “But at that point of the game, I’ve got to get that throw up and inside where Troy [Glaus, Angel third baseman] can catch it.”

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Second baseman Adam Kennedy worked out Sunday with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and will begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment there tonight. Scioscia would like Kennedy, who has been sidelined since breaking a bone in his right hand March 8, to get at least 15-20 at-bats before joining the Angels. . . . Jarrod Washburn gave up five earned runs on nine hits, struck out five and walked one in 7 2/3 innings of a rehab start for triple-A Salt Lake against Oklahoma City on Sunday. Washburn, recovering from a spring-training bout with strep throat, is expected to rejoin the Angel rotation this weekend. . . . The heart of the Angel order, Tim Salmon, Glaus, Garret Anderson and Glenallen Hill, combined for two RBIs in three games against the A’s.