Willits dropped to ninth

The Angels made an inevitable move Friday, dropping rookie Reggie Willits to the No. 9 spot in the lineup. Willits had been batting leadoff for most of the season and had been a rookie of the year candidate with his performance in the first half. Willits had batted leadoff in 42 of the last 45 games he started. But entering Friday's game, Willits was in an 8-for-46 slide. He still was ranked second among AL rookies with a .307 batting average, third in hits (78) and first in on-base percentage (.405).

Other lineup changes included the struggling Orlando Cabrera (no hits in his last 17 at-bats) moving from the No. 3 spot to the No. 2 spot where he started the season. Vladimir Guerrero moved up to No. 3 while Garret Anderson returned to the cleanup spot.