Lovullo Has a Ball, Gets Best of Clemens : Baseball: Reserve second baseman hits third major league home run to help the Angels beat the Red Sox, 2-1.

Torey Lovullo couldn’t stop smiling after hitting his third career home run Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

“Let’s see, that makes homers off Jose Bautista, Shane Rawley and now Roger Clemens,” Lovullo said.

Lovullo thought it over for a moment, then laughed at the absurdity of it all. Clemens?

But it was true. He wasn’t just dreaming and neither were the Angels.

He had slammed a 2-and-0 pitch over the 386-foot sign on the right-center field wall in the fifth inning of the Angels’ 2-1 victory over Clemens and the Boston Red Sox.

“I have the balls from the other two homers,” Lovullo said of souvenirs from 1988 and ’89. “Wait, it might be around here someplace. Here it is.”

Reaching into his locker, he found a ball, turned it around and saw some prankster had forged Clemens’ signature and written a bogus congratulatory note.

“Well, maybe this is the ball,” Lovullo said. “Hopefully, I’ll hit a few more this year and the novelty will wear off.”

He’s likely to remember this homer, the Angels’ first off Clemens since May 16, 1989, for quite some time.

“I needed that,” said Lovullo, a former standout at UCLA and Van Nuys Montclair Prep whose family attended Sunday’s game. “I was struggling the last four games. If that doesn’t get me going, nothing will.”

And he laughed again.

It was that kind of day.

Lovullo was in the lineup for the second consecutive game only because regular second baseman Damion Easley was resting his shin splints. After going hitless Saturday against John Dopson and knowing he would have to face Clemens in the twilight Sunday, a home run was a far-fetched proposition.

“I’d be happy just to take a bunt single off Clemens,” Lovullo said.

Still, when he came up with two outs in the fifth inning of a scoreless game, Lovullo was not anxious. He talked to J.T. Snow, his roommate in triple-A and his best buddy on the Angels, earlier in the dugout and wasn’t about to back down.

When Clemens delivered a 2-and-0 fastball that was clocked at 93 m.p.h., Lovullo swung and connected.

“I’m not a power-hitter by any means, so I don’t know what it feels like to hit a home run,” he said. “I knew I hit it good, though, so I put my head down and started running hard. When I got near second base, I noticed the ball had carried out.

“I think he supplied most of the energy.”

Maybe Lovullo should have thanked Clemens for that, somebody suggested.

“Naw, he probably would have punched me,” Lovullo said. “He’s such a competitor. Did you see the pitch he threw over J.T.’s head?”

Until Sunday, Lovullo had been content to watch Snow terrorize opposing pitchers with six homers, 17 RBIs and a .407 average. But when Lovullo homered off Clemens, their roles were reversed and Snow became a fan.

“I’m real excited for him,” Snow said. “For some reason, I felt he was going to do something good today. He took a nice easy swing. . . . Hey, where is the guy, anyway?”

Told Lovullo was doing a postgame radio interview in the dugout, Snow smiled.

“We talk about baseball all the time,” Lovullo said when he finally reached the clubhouse. “He knows I’ve been pulling for him and I know deep down inside he’s pulling for me.”

Sunday, there was no question that it was Lovullo’s turn in the spotlight.