Owen Gets Another Chance : Baseball: Angels’ utility infielder not ready to quit when there are still opportunities to play.

Most days, Spike Owen glances at the lineup card and doesn’t see his name listed anywhere. That’s life as a utility infielder, and as long as that’s his role on the Angels there’s not much he can do about it.

On the occasions when Owen does play, he does so with one thought in mind.

“I’m trying to make a case for myself as much as I can,” he said.

He can’t pick his spots since he’s not the manager. But when he is in the lineup, as he was Sunday, Owen is determined to make the most of it. He can’t be certain when he’ll play next, so there is a sense of urgency to every at-bat and every ball hit in his direction.

With Damion Easley on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis and Eduardo Perez at triple-A Vancouver relearning the position, there is a temporary vacancy at third base. When Perez is ready to return in a few weeks, Easley will move to second base.

For now, Owen has a spot to call his own, but it’s not his most comfortable position. Or one he’s even played before coming to the Angels this season. He hadn’t played first base before this year either, but he got a start there for the Angels, too. And to think, they signed him in the hopes that he could play second.

“At this point, the more versatility I can show people, the more valuable I am,” Owen said.

Against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, he played third, where he said he’s beginning to feel more comfortable after spending the past 10 years as a shortstop with Seattle, Boston, Montreal and New York.

By game’s end, he had an effect, rocketing a triple into the right-center field gap in the third inning and delivering a run-scoring single in the sixth as the Angels defeated Milwaukee, 3-1. Owen extended his consecutive hit streak to seven games.

“He’s a gamer, an old pro,” Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “(Third) may not be his best position, but he’s going to go out there and give it to you.”

Baring injury, Gary DiSarcina isn’t going to miss many games at shortstop, so Owen is forced to become familiar with other positions.

If he minds playing out of position, he’s not letting on. He said a chance to play is a chance to play.

When he played first on May 14 at Seattle, he smiled and shrugged. It was his first career start there and his major league experience amounted to “about eight innings.”

The first ball hit his way was a bullet off the Kingdome’s artificial turf. But Owen didn’t flinch, snaring it and racing to the bag to record the out.

“Utility infielders are invaluable,” Lachemann said. “They help you at crunch time when you need to fill holes. There’s no substitute for them.

“Usually, you hope to get good defense from them. If you get good hitting from them it’s a plus. The more positions somebody can give you in that role the better off you’re going to be.”

Until recently, Owen wasn’t giving the Angels much help on offense as his average plunged to .200 on May 22. But after Sunday, his fifth consecutive start at third, he was hitting .259.

“I needed to get some at-bats,” he said. “Up until a couple of weeks ago, I only had 25 at-bats. Opportunity is the main thing. If you get at-bats once every five games it makes it difficult to hit consistently.”