BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Owen Forces Lachemann to Play Him

Manager Marcel Lachemann is not ready to bench struggling third baseman Eduardo Perez, who is batting .216 and has made three costly errors in the last two games, in favor of hot-hitting Spike Owen, who has six hits in his last 12 at-bats.

But Lachemann said he will try to find more playing opportunities for Owen, who started at second base Thursday and had three hits, two runs batted in and two runs.

“He was excellent today,” Lachemann said. “[Shortstop Gary] DiSarcina is going to need a rest soon and he was able to rest Damion [Easley, second baseman] today. We’ve got to get him in the game more.”

Owen, who played shortstop for virtually all of his 12-year career, took over for Perez at third last May and hit a career-high .310, leading the American League with a .454 average with runners in scoring position.

“I am trying to put some pressure on [Lachemann],” Owen said. “Obviously if I keep playing well, they’ll have to play me more.”

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First baseman J.T. Snow suffered a bruised left knee when he was hit by a pitch in the second inning. He remained in the game and had an RBI single in the third but came out in the bottom of the third when the knee began swelling.

Snow spent Thursday night wearing an air cast and will be evaluated today. Snow exchanged heated words with Minnesota pitcher Pat Mahomes and said Mahomes might have been throwing at him, perhaps in retaliation for Chuck Knoblauch’s getting hit by a pitch in the first.

“He was throwing strikes to the first five hitters and his first pitch to me went right at me,” Snow said.

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Mitch Williams, who replaced starter Shawn Boskie in the sixth inning, failed to retire a batter for the second consecutive outing.

“He hasn’t been pitching a lot, and that’s my fault,” Lachemann said.

Williams, who has made only four appearances in the last 12 days, said he would benefit by pitching more.

“I love being on the mound,” he said. “The more I’m out there, the better I feel.”