Kotchman has a grand time

ARLINGTON, TEXAS —  One little piece of advice from batting instructor Mickey Hatcher seemed to unleash Casey Kotchman’s inner Vladdy.

The Angels first baseman was mired in a two-for-25 slump before the weekend, but after making a minor adjustment to his front foot, Kotchman had six hits in his next 10 at-bats, including a first-inning grand slam that catapulted the Angels toward a 7-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday.

Right-hander Jered Weaver (2-3) survived his first big league rain delay, a 33-minute stoppage in the top of the third inning, to throw seven superb innings, giving up one run and six hits and striking out five, and the Angels won three of four games in the series.

Vladimir Guerrero, who has terrorized Texas to the tune of a .426 career average, 21 home runs and 51 runs batted in, had a relatively quiet series, going three for 13 with one RBI.

But Kotchman had two hits and an RBI on Saturday, three hits Sunday and followed Monday’s slam, a 377-foot shot to right field against starter Kevin Millwood, with three walks, raising his average from .224 to .256 and his career numbers against Texas to .426 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 27 at-bats.

“Mickey pointed something out a couple of days ago that has been beneficial,” Kotchman said. “It was something in my setup. I had to get my front foot out of the way. It was all real mechanical. Getting that straightened out allowed me to be more free and easy.”

Manager Mike Scioscia said he and Hatcher have been trying to reinforce Kotchman’s strengths, which are using the whole field, seeing pitches “and not getting consumed with driving the ball,” Scioscia said. “Let that happen by accident, and you could see what he did today, he drove it.”

With Kotchman’s second career grand slam, the Angels have outscored opponents, 41-12, in the first inning, and they are 14-3 when they score in the first. With Mike Napoli’s run-scoring double and Tommy Murphy’s two-run single in the third, the Angels have outscored opponents, 121-77, in the first five innings.

“That’s always nice,” Weaver said. “It takes a little pressure off my shoulders. I can throw strikes and try to get some early-count outs.”

Weaver was slowed by shoulder tightness this spring, opened the season on the disabled list and struggled in his first two starts, giving up 11 runs in 7 2/3 innings of losses to Oakland and Detroit. In his last four starts, he is 2-1 with a 1.82 earned-run average. Four of his five strikeouts Monday came on called third strikes.

“I was throwing a lot of off-speed pitches early and able to locate a few fastballs when they were looking for off-speed pitches,” Weaver said. “This is the best I’ve felt with my mechanics and a consistent release point. Everything is coming together.”

The Angels hope they can say the same for their offense, which has scored 33 runs in the last five games.

One key has been the play of newly installed leadoff batter Reggie Willits, who is batting .325 in the last nine games. He drew two walks and singled Monday and saw 28 pitches in five plate appearances, 15 in his first two plate appearances against Millwood.

“That’s pretty good,” Scioscia said. “We need that presence in the leadoff spot, someone who works the counts. Reggie has an understanding of his game and is doing a great job of it.”

Willits, subbing for injured left fielder Garret Anderson, also showed his toughness in the second inning, remaining in the game after a nasty collision with shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who slammed his right shoulder into Willits’ chin while catching a popup by Nelson Cruz after a long run. “He was a little woozy,” Scioscia said of Willits, “but he’s OK.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com