BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Easley Bothered by Shin Splints

Second baseman Damion Easley’s shin splints flared up again, forcing him to sit out Saturday’s game. He also probably will sit out tonight’s series finale against Boston’s Roger Clemens, although he said he’s trying to talk Manager Buck Rodgers into letting him play.

“One day off should be enough to calm down (the shin splints),” said Easley, who is three for five lifetime against Clemens. “I don’t plan on missing three weeks like I did during spring training.”

Easley developed shin splints while working out during the winter and the Angels, hoping to cure the problem early, brought him along slowly in Tempe, Ariz. Rodgers said Easley had been feeling some tenderness during batting practice, but had no pain during games until Friday night.

Easley is batting .333 with seven runs batted in. “I think I’m doing OK,” he said. “You always feel like you could be doing better in one area or another. I’d like the challenge (of facing Clemens). I definitely like the challenge.”

First baseman J.T. Snow also is eager to face the hard-throwing Clemens. “He’s a guy I’ve always followed, a guy who’s always been a dominant pitcher year in and year out. Yeah, I’m looking forward to that.”

Clemens struck out a major league record 20 Seattle Mariners during a game in 1986, the same year Snow graduated from Los Alamitos High.

Rodgers was disappointed to hear that outfielder Jerome Walton was upset with the club for sending him to triple-A Vancouver to make room for pitcher Scott Lewis. “When he sits back and realizes how far he’s come this spring, I hope he’ll do the wise thing and see how he needs to get some at-bats,” Rodgers said. “He was going to die on the vine up here.”

Pitching matchups for next week’s games against the New York Yankees: Chuck Finley (2-0, 2.96 ERA) vs. the Yankees’ Jimmy Key (2-1, 1.21) on Tuesday and Mark Langston (2-0, 2.67) vs. Jim Abbott (1-3, 4.13) on Wednesday. . . . Going into Saturday, the Angels had 25 stolen bases, their most in April since they had 30 in 1977.