BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Easley Gets a Break: It’s Only a Bruise

Second baseman Damion Easley did not start Monday’s game because of a bruise on his left wrist, suffered when he was hit by a Shawn Hillegas pitch in the second inning against Oakland on Sunday. “It’s not that sore,” said Easley, hitting a team-leading .316. “I can swing, catch and field. There’s no pain.”

His wrist was encased in a large ice pack after batting practice, however.

“We dodged a bullet there,” Manager Buck Rodgers said. “If you had taken a poll of our trainers, they would have told you it was broken.”

Said Easley: “I thought it was broken.”

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Fifth starter Scott Lewis looked sick on Sunday, and for good reason. Lewis came down with flu and did not attend Monday’s game.

“He didn’t have any stamina,” Rodgers said. “He didn’t have anything out there. It wasn’t too pretty. He went to the doctor (Monday). He was a sick puppy.”

Lewis pitched five innings, giving up five hits, two runs and six walks in the Angels’ 7-6 victory.

“He was ahead (3-2) when he went out,” Rodgers said. “He wanted to get past that fifth inning.”

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Rodgers said he wants to keep Julio Valera, still bothered by a tender elbow, in the bullpen rather than give him a start. “It’s an option, but it’s not an option I feel like taking,” Rodgers said. “If I decide to start Valera and he comes up lame for a while, then I’ve destroyed two things (the bullpen and the starting rotation).” . . . Catcher Greg Myers’ second-inning steal of second base was his first major league stolen base. . . . By now it should come as no surprise that J.T. Snow takes fielding seriously. “That’s just my character,” he said Sunday after his ninth-inning stab of Kevin Seitzer’s line drive robbed Oakland of a run. “I want to get every ball that’s hit my way.” . . . Friday’s game against Kansas City will start at 7:30 p.m. to accommodate ESPN.