Biggest Bang Is Kennedy’s in Angel Win

The Angel offense remains remarkably undaunted. If it is to carry the Angels into contention for one more day, one more week, even another month, then it appears willing.

On Tuesday night at Edison Field, where a sellout crowd of 43,487 came to see baseball and fireworks, the Angels hit three more home runs, two by rookie Adam Kennedy, and defeated the Seattle Mariners, 7-6. Kennedy’s second homer was a two-run shot in the eighth inning against Jose Mesa that lifted the Angels from a one-run deficit into a one-run victory.

Troy Percival pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning and struck out Mike Cameron to bring the Angels to within six games of the Mariners, who lead the American League West. The save was Percival’s 20th.

With the Mariners leading, 6-5, Garret Anderson led off the eighth with an infield single against Mariner left-hander Arthur Rhodes. Mesa (2-5) relieved and retired Troy Glaus, then threw a first-pitch fastball to Kennedy, who hit it into the right-field seats for his sixth home run.

Angel right-hander Kent Bottenfield started well, then struggled along with the defense.

He gave up Alex Rodriguez’s solo home run in the first inning, and only that run until the Mariners scored four runs in the sixth, then another in the seventh.

Ranked in the bottom half of American League defenses, the Angels played a lead part in Bottenfield’s unruly sixth inning. Center fielder Garret Anderson and left fielder Orlando Palmeiro had a catchable ball fall between them to begin the inning, and Anderson twice appeared to miss cutoff men as Bottenfield toiled through 10 batters.

Anderson’s first wayward throw allowed a runner to advance into scoring position. It was his first error since June 19, 1999, a span of 161 games.

Bottenfield threw a tight 54 pitches through five innings, including first-pitch strikes to the first 12 batters, then threw 37 pitches in the sixth. John Olerud, who hit two home runs against Bottenfield on Thursday in Seattle, had a critical two-run double.

Due in part to home runs by Kennedy and Matt Walbeck against Mariner starter Gil Meche, the Angels had a 4-1 lead after five innings.

After the Mariners went ahead in the top of the sixth, the Angels tied it when Glaus scored from third on a two-out wild pitch by Jose Paniagua.

Edgar Martinez’s two-out double scored Rodriguez from first in the seventh inning to give the Mariners a 6-5 lead.

Rodriguez was on base because umpire Fieldin Culbreth called him safe on the back end of what appeared to be a double play groundout. Television replays confirmed Rodriguez should have been out.

The Angels needed the big win to stay in the West race. Their surplus is in veteran pitchers who are A) hurt, B) pitching poorly or C) both. That won’t play particularly well even in a national market desperate for pitching.

Still, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Cleveland, among others, were curious enough about Bottenfield to send scouts to measure him against the surging Mariners. Several scouts were given the impression by their superiors that Bottenfield, Tim Belcher and Ken Hill can be had in a trade for prospects. They’re here to find out why.

Bottenfield, at 31, would appear to have the most value--to the Angels and to major-league shoppers. First, however, he would have to pitch better, and he did.

He hasn’t won since June 2, a 31-day period that included 15 days on the disabled list because of tendinitis in his right shoulder. His ERA had risen in eight consecutive starts, from 3.74 to 5.60, and he was hit hard in two starts after coming off the disabled list.

In his first 15 starts, Bottenfield averaged 18 pitches per inning. Among AL pitchers, only Pat Rapp fills innings with more. Previously a control specialist, Bottenfield found himself in more deep counts than perhaps ever before, due in part to his sore shoulder.

The unwieldy pitch counts took their toll on Bottenfield, who gave up runs (nearly six per game as the pitcher of record) and home runs (18) at unusual rates for a pitcher who just last season was an All-Star and an 18-game winner.

Though an expensive acquisition--Bottenfield came from St. Louis with second baseman Adam Kennedy in a spring trade that sent away Jim Edmonds--the Angels have made no attempt to sign him to a contract extension.

If the Angels trade Bottenfield or simply let him pitch into free agency, it will be because General Manager Bill Stoneman is so encouraged by his young pitchers.