Anaheim hopes Anderson’s bat awakens tonight

? An optional workout became a day off for the Anaheim Angels, who really don’t need much batting practice with the way they’re hitting.

There is one possible exception, and that involves their best hitter Garret Anderson.

Anderson, the Angels’ cleanup batter and lone All-Star, hit .306 with 29 homers and 123 RBIs this season, but he’s been one of the few quiet Angels in the World Series with seven hits all singles and three RBIs.

And he’s come to bat with 22 runners on base.

“He’s hit some balls hard he’s centering balls,” hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said Friday at Edison Field, where Game 6 of the Series will be played today with the Angels needing a victory against San Francisco to force a seventh game. “He’s not swinging bad.”

Anderson is batting .292 in the Series and .306 with two homers and 10 RBIs in 14 postseason games.

Not bad, but the Angels need more from him now, especially the way the Giants are scoring.

“He made an adjustment before the game last night, he talked to me about it,” said Hatcher. “He’s going to be fine. He’s just not getting his hits.

“He’s not feeling the pressure. He’s hit some balls hard. They’re just not finding the holes. There’s nothing else he can do. He’s kept some big rallies going with some hits.”

Tim Salmon was having a tough time before breaking out with two homers among four hits in Anaheim’s 11-10 victory in Game 2. He’s hitting .350 with two homers and five RBIs in the Series.

“Garret, I don’t know, seems like he’s hit decent,” Salmon said. “I know he probably hasn’t had the big hits that he wanted.

Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia answers questions Friday at Edison Field in Anaheim, Calif.

“There’s certain guys in the lineup, if you’re not getting pitches or balls that you can do much with, what can you do?”

A guy named Barry Bonds, who bats cleanup for the Giants, has done quite a bit with even fewer pitches to hit than Anderson. Bonds has walked 10 times, six intentionally; Anderson has drawn only two walks.

The Angels are hitting .328 in the postseason with 91 runs in 14 postseason games. They’re also batting .328 in the Series with 31 runs in five games.

Salmon was one of the few Angels at Edison Field on Friday, showing up for treatment.

The Angels had an optional workout scheduled, but manager Mike Scioscia nixed that on the plane ride home from San Francisco, where the Angels lost 16-4 in Game 5 on Thursday.

“We felt it was much more important for these guys to mentally get a rest. We altered the plans a little bit,” Scioscia said.

Eleven teams have been down 3-2 coming home and won Games 6 and 7 to win the Series including six in the last 20 years St. Louis in 1982, Kansas City in 1985, the New York Mets in 1986, Minnesota in 1987 and 1991, and Arizona last year.