Spiezio Is Reserved About Different Role

Scott Spiezio hasn’t walked into the Angel clubhouse, looked at a lineup card without his name on it and taken a Louisville Slugger to the television set. Not that he hasn’t wanted to.

“No matter how much you don’t play or haven’t played in the past, I expect to be in the lineup every day, and when I’m not, I’m mad,” Spiezio said. “I just mask it well.”

Spiezio, a switch-hitter who had 17 home runs in only 297 at-bats in 2000, thought a first-base platoon with left-handed-hitting Wally Joyner would provide an opportunity for a lot more playing time.

But the Angels faced their second straight left-hander Monday night, Oakland’s Mark Mulder, and for the second straight day, Spiezio did not start. In fact, the Angels have faced left-handers in seven of 13 games, and Spiezio has started only three of those games.

Manager Mike Scioscia insists Spiezio “is a big part of this club” and will play as much as, if not more, than last season. But right-handed-hitting Shawn Wooten began Monday night with a .364 average, and Scioscia said he wants to ride Wooten’s hot bat at first base while he can.

Spiezio, meanwhile, will bite his tongue and wait wait his turn.

“Even though you’re mad, you have a job to do,” he said. “You might be needed in the ninth inning to get a hit off their closer. Every inning, I try to calculate the situation and figure out when I might be used. There are always going to be guys who are angry they’re not playing, but I’ve learned you have to be ready when called upon.”

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The A’s, picked by many to win the American League West, took a 2-10 record and seven-game losing streak into Monday’s game, and they were seven games behind first-place Seattle. But Scioscia believes it’s far too early to write them off.

“They were seven games back last Aug. 11, so for us to say they’re buried is not only premature, you’d have to be the eternal pessimist to think that,” Scioscia said. “[Oakland’s start] has no bearing on the division. I hope I’m wrong. I hope they are buried. But that’s not the case.”

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Matt Wise, who was pulled from Thursday night’s game against Texas in the second inning because of dizziness and blurred vision, has been cleared to resume pitching and will start tonight for triple-A Salt Lake against New Orleans. Doctors aren’t sure what caused his episode, but believe he may have been suffering from dehydration.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ RAMON ORTIZ

(2-0, 2.51 ERA)

vs.

ATHLETICS’ TIM HUDSON

(1-1, 5.28 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

Radio--KMXN (94.3 FM), XPRS (1090).

* Update--This could be a pitcher’s duel between the best starter in the division, Hudson, and one of the division’s rising young talents, Ortiz. Hudson, a split-fingered fastball specialist, has a 4-1 record and 4.86 ERA in five starts against the Angels, including an eight-inning, two-run, three-hit, 11-strikeout gem in a 4-2 A’s victory in Oakland on April 7. Ortiz has been dominant in his first two starts, limiting a potent Texas lineup to four runs and nine hits in 14 1/3 innings, striking out 17.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000