Angels Hurting, but They Win, 5-1

SEATTLE — The fans wore winter coats, the Angels wore long sleeves, and the temperature at game time Wednesday night was 56 degrees. This was not spring training.

The Angel infield, however, had a definite exhibition feel to it. With Adam Kennedy put on the disabled list Wednesday afternoon and Troy Glaus still nursing an injury, the Angels surrounded shortstop David Eckstein by moving first baseman Scott Spiezio to third base, deploying utilityman Shawn Wooten at first and promoting minor leaguer Chone Figgins to play second.

Two hours before game time, as Figgins dashed into Safeco Field after an afternoon flight from Tucson, and as the Angels learned Kennedy might be out another three weeks, infield coach Alfredo Griffin reviewed the makeshift infield alignment and shrugged.

“It’s not the same, but that’s what we’ve got,” he said.

For one night, anyway, that was enough. The Angels scored four runs in the first two innings, Kevin Appier carried a shutout into the sixth inning, and the defense committed no errors. That was sufficient for the Angels to defeat the Seattle Mariners, 5-1, ending a four-game losing streak in the process, although outfielder Tim Salmon suffered the injury du jour.

Salmon left the game in the sixth inning, after experiencing tightness in his left groin while running out a ground ball. He is unlikely to play today, when the Angels might well field a lineup without their right fielder, third baseman and second baseman.

Spiezio, who entered Wednesday’s game with two hits in 24 at-bats this season, homered, doubled, singled and drove in three runs. Appier gave up six hits over six innings, with Brendan Donnelly, Francisco Rodriguez and Troy Percival contributing one shutout inning each.

The Angels asked Appier to simplify his style, to concentrate on his fastball and avoid experimenting with what Manager Mike Scioscia called “the whole kitchen sink” of pitches. After a disastrous first outing in Oakland, Appier sparkled Wednesday.

“It made it easier to throw more fastballs, because I had better life on them,” he said.

The season is not yet two weeks old, and already attrition has emerged as a factor that will determine whether the Angels can defend their championship.

Kennedy is on the disabled list because of his hamstring injury, Glaus might not play for another day or two because of his, and Salmon might be out a few days too. Center fielder Darin Erstad still smarts from pain in his right hand, and Eckstein has not completely overcome the hip and back soreness that bothered him in spring training.

“For any championship-caliber club, you have to have depth,” Scioscia said. “The depth of our organization will be tested.”

Scioscia said Kennedy would be out two to three weeks (“It’s pretty close to a tear right now,” Kennedy said), and in any case the Angels cannot activate him before April 22. In Kennedy’s absence, Scioscia said Figgins and veteran reserve Benji Gil would share playing time at second base. Figgins, for all his pinch-running exploits last September and October, is a rookie who started his second major league game Wednesday.

Glaus said he felt better and hoped to play today. But, as the Kennedy injury reminded the Angels, hamstring injuries are notoriously fickle.

While Scioscia joked about Eckstein looking to his left and right and finding new faces in both places -- “He lost two of his wing men” -- the Angels were not pretending to minimize the losses of Glaus and Kennedy.

“Obviously there’s a drop-off,” Gil said. “One guy can give you 40 to 50 home runs, and the other guy finished seventh in the league in hitting. It’s not easy to replace those guys.”