Kennedy’s the Feature at Drive-In

Jim Edmonds is plastered all over the National League leaderboard, the St. Louis Cardinal center fielder ranking first or second in several categories.

But that doesn’t mean the Angels’ March 23 trade of Edmonds has been one of those lopsided deals the Angels are infamous for.

Kent Bottenfield, the pitcher the Angels acquired from St. Louis, has been superb in his first three starts, and rookie second baseman Adam Kennedy, the other half of the Cardinal package that came to Anaheim, could make Angel fans forget all about Edmonds with performances like Tuesday night’s.

Kennedy hit a grand slam in the fourth inning, missed a second grand slam by about five feet in the fifth and tied a franchise record with eight runs batted in to highlight the Angels’ 16-10 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays before 13,825 in the SkyDome.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a game like this on any level,” said Kennedy, who played at Riverside J.W. North High School and Cal State Northridge. “But when you come up three times with the bases loaded, you’re going to have opportunities. The guys in front of me had great at-bats all night long.”

Indeed, the Angels pounded the Blue Jays for 19 hits, including a home run and two doubles by Troy Glaus and three singles by Garret Anderson, and frustrated Toronto to the point that Blue Jay reliever John Frascatore--on his first pitch after a visit to the mound by pitching coach Rick Langford--hit Scott Spiezio in the Angels’ five-run ninth.

Frascatore tossed his glove into the air and challenged Spiezio to fight, so Spiezio had no choice but to charge the mound. Both benches and bullpens cleared for the obligatory scrum, but it wasn’t much of a fight.

The best shots came in the Angel clubhouse afterward.

“That was . . . just obvious,” first baseman Mo Vaughn said. “We didn’t do that to them when they dropped seven runs on us Monday night.”

Will the Angels retaliate tonight?

“We’ll see,” Vaughn said. “This is not the type of club that takes this stuff lightly. People can get hurt. Like I’ve said before, everyone’s got to take their beatings like a man.

“If you can’t get guys out across the plate, find somewhere else to pitch.”

Frascatore denied that he hit Spiezio intentionally, and Toronto Manager Jim Fregosi didn’t think Frascatore was throwing at Spiezio, “but he hit him, and there’s going to be an argument,” Fregosi said.

No punches were thrown in the fight, but Kennedy provided a few knockout blows before the brawl.

After singling in the first inning and striking out with the bases loaded to end the second, Kennedy drove his grand slam off the back of the bullpen wall in right off starter Frank Castillo in the fourth.

Then, with the bases loaded in the fifth, Kennedy drilled reliever John Bale’s first pitch over the head of center fielder Jose Cruz. But the ball hit the 10-foot wall on the fly, about half way up, and Kennedy had to settle for a three-run triple.

Kennedy, who is hitting .367 with 13 RBIs, walked in the seventh and added an RBI single in the ninth to tie the Angel single-game RBI record.

And just to show Kennedy isn’t all-hit, no-field, he made a nice diving catch of Carlos Delgado’s liner in the fourth inning and turned a 6-4-3 double play in the fifth to help back the pitching of Jason Dickson, who gave up four runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings to improve to 2-0.

“That was a tremendous night,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said of Kennedy. “He’s got some pop--we knew that--but he’s also doing everything you could ask a ballplayer to do.”

And a lot more than Scioscia, the former Dodger catcher, ever did in one night during his playing career.

“Eight RBIs, that was a good month for me,” Scioscia said.

“Adam is gifted with tremendous hand-eye coordination. His swing is not textbook, but he generates tremendous leverage for a guy who is not that big. He puts a good swing on the ball.”

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Eight Men In

Angel second baseman Adam Kennedy tied a team record with eight RBIs on Tuesday. A look at Angels who have driven in eight runs in a game:

* Adam Kennedy: April 18, 2000, at Toronto

* Don Baylor: Aug. 25, 1979, at Toronto

* Leon Wagner: Sept. 28, 1961 vs. Washington

* Lee Thomas: Sept. 5, 1961 at Kansas City