Despite historic night, Morales not in lineup

ARLINGTON -- One day after becoming the third player in baseball history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning, Kendrys Morales' bat was autographed and sent to the Hall of Fame.

And it wasn't in the Angels' starting lineup.

Despite Morales' magical sixth inning in Monday's 15-8 drubbing, Angels manager Mike Scioscia stuck with what he's done for most of the season, sitting Morales against a left-handed starter to get the right-handed bats of Vernon Wells or Peter Bourjos in the lineup.

Morales wants to get a chance to play every day and find rhythm, but isn't getting it.

"I'm not surprised; they've been doing it all year," a solemn Morales said in Spanish. "I'm not sure what's happening, but there's nothing you can do."

It's not like Morales is on a tear, per se. Before hitting a two-run homer off righty Roy Oswalt and a grand slam off lefty Robbie Ross in the sixth, he had just three hits in his last 28 at-bats, with 14 strikeouts.

Scioscia believes Morales has been swinging the bat a lot better from the right side, but he also believes that continuing to give Morales a day off against a lefty will benefit him in the long run, and overrides any potential momentum.

"There are going to be times obviously when Kendrys will hit against left-handed pitching," said Scioscia, who went with Wells in left field and Mark Trumbo at designated hitter against lefty Derek Holland. "But I think right now, we're certainly going to keep him fresh. It's almost like a natural break you can get at times against some lefties."