Angels’ Albert Pujols surging despite plantar fasciitis

The Angels’ Albert Pujols went into Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh with five multi-hit games in his last seven starts and batting .329 with 16 runs batted in in his last 18 games — numbers that have lifted his season average to .265, the highest it’s been in nearly two months.

And although June has always been good to Pujols — he has a .328 career average for the month — Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said a big contributing factor in this year’s hot streak could be Pujols’ ability to deal with the painful plantar fasciitis in his left foot that has limited his ability to run and affected his swing.

“The lower half helps his swing, there’s no doubt about that,” Scioscia said. “He’s starting to be able to use all fields again. [He’s] comfortable in the batter’s box. And he’s really been driving the ball better.”

Scioscia said the injury is something Pujols will almost certainly have to deal with for the rest of the season.

“What he has right now is probably more chronic than anything,” he said. “So it’s not like he’s going to wake up tomorrow and feel great. He’s finding a way to work with it.

“It’s still there. He’s working around some things. But there’s no doubt he’s still banged up”

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