Advertisement

Angels end two-game skid with shutout of Mariners

Share

When Howie Kendrick moved across the Angels’ clubhouse and into a locker next to Torii Hunter’s this spring, the hope was the veteran Hunter would become a mentor to the 25-year-old Kendrick.

Sunday the club may have seen the first fruits of that labor. But they didn’t come out on the field, where Kendrick laid waste to a mini-slump by driving in a career-high four runs in an 8-0 rout of the Seattle Mariners.

Kendrick, after all, could always hit.

No, where he really channeled Hunter was afterward, when he was asked to explain his success.

Advertisement

“I just started doing yoga and meditating in the morning,” Kendrick deadpanned as the playful Hunter watched from a distance, trying not to laugh. “Just thinking about my at-bats. It’s good for the mind. It helps you relax a little bit.”

Truth be told, Kendrick’s enlightenment at the plate came from a much more modern source -- the videotape player, which showed he was holding his hands too far back, tying up his upper body and hindering his swing.

“It was something so small that I didn’t even know that I was doing it,” said Kendrick, who ended a four-for-31 skid with five hits and six RBIs in his last two games. “As far as hitting, the hand adjustment was very important.”

But don’t underestimate the mental adjustments brought on by his new environment. Kendrick is coming off a difficult 2008 season that was disrupted by injuries, then ended with a four-game playoff performance against Boston in which he batted .118.

It’s impossible to be down for too long sitting next to the perpetually bubbly Hunter, however -- especially when he also happens to be Kendrick’s biggest fan.

“The guy hits the ball harder than anybody,” Hunter said. “He flushes the ball every time. When the ball knuckles, that means you hit it flush, like Tony Gwynn used to do.

Advertisement

“I think he can win a batting title one day.”

Kendrick and the Angels were simply content with winning a game Sunday, something they’ve struggled to do with consistency this season. And this win, only their third in nine games, looked like a blueprint for the kind of victories the club has grown accustomed to in recent seasons, one that mixed strong starting pitching with good pitching out of the bullpen and a deep and balanced offensive attack.

“We haven’t gotten off to as good a start as everybody thought we would. But we’re battling,” said Jered Weaver (2-1), who held the Mariners to three singles in seven shutout innings, lowering his earned-run average to 2.45. “It’s just a matter of time before we get our groove and get some guys back and start rolling.

“It’s a long season. And we’re going to be just fine.”

Reliever Scot Shields and Brian Fuentes combined to get the last six outs -- Fuentes’ three coming on strikeouts -- to give the Angels their first shutout since opening day.

And it was Kendrick who got the scoring started with a two-run second-inning homer -- his first of three hits -- against former Angel Jarrod Washburn (3-1).

He was one of five Angels with at least two hits, though, as Hunter contributed two singles, a double and two runs, and Gary Matthews Jr., Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera reached base three times each, with Rivera also adding a homer, his first of the season.

“We’re getting contributions from a lot of guys. And we’re going to need that depth,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “[But] it’s not just looking at one game and saying ‘that’s what we need.’ This is what we’re going to need on a nightly basis if we’re going to reach our goal.”

Advertisement

--

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

Advertisement