Angels get back to some basics

ANAHEIM -- Hours before the Angels were set to play the Rangers in the finale of a three game series, they took the field to work on some fundamentals.

For approximately 30 minutes, the Angels' pitchers and infielders worked on double plays, holding runners on, pickoff attemps and basic pitcher's fielding practice.

"Those are the things you can't forget about. It's part of the game," right-hander Michael Kohn said. "We, as a pitching staff, have to be quicker to the plate, give our catchers a better chance to throw guys out. Sometimes you just need that renewal to get back to the basics and that's what we're doing right now."

Following Tuesday night's 8-3 loss to the Rangers, Angels manger Mike Scioscia held a team meeting.

Minutes later, Scioscia shared some of his frustrations with the media, made three references to this being the Major Leagues and not the "Instructional League," and said the team would work on it early Wednesday.

And Scioscia appeared to be pleased with the session, noting that it was "good, crsip."

"I think guys got a lot out of it, certainly understand the things that we need to do a little bit better," Scioscia said.

While Wednesday's workout may have been a reaction to Tuesday's loss, Scioscia also said it was a necessity because of the fresh faces in the infield -- referring to Chris Nelson, Tommy Field, Grant Green and Kole Calhoun, who played first on Tuesday.

"I think there's a lot of things that we have to work through," Scioscia said. "We did it internally with trying to get guys to understand the system, but you have to go out there on the field and work through some things to be able to acclimate and we'll do it again at some point."

The new infielders need some time to mesh, but the workout was just as important for pitchers who Scioscia said have been doing a poor job of controlling the opponents running game.

"We'll continue to work," Kohn said. "We have to. If not, then we're going to be out of a job."