Kennedy Vies for Gold Glove

Adam Kennedy admits he’s a little envious of the two Gold Glove awards teammates Darin Erstad and Bengie Molina have each won, but the Angel second baseman may not harbor those feelings much longer.

“No disrespect to Bret Boone,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said of the Seattle second baseman, who has won the last two American League Gold Glove awards, “but Adam Kennedy, for me, is the Gold Glove second baseman this season.”

Boone entered Thursday with 11 errors in 132 games, and committed two errors to key the Angels’ four-run eighth inning Thursday night. Kennedy had five errors in 139 games. But fielding percentage is only one component of the award.

The ability to make difficult plays look routine and to make spectacular plays on occasion is what separates the Gold Glove winner from the rest, and Kennedy showed Wednesday night why he has a good chance of winning his first Gold Glove award.

In the second inning, Kennedy made a diving stop of Boone’s shot up the middle and threw to first for the out. In the seventh, he ranged far to his left for a Jeremy Reed grounder that caromed off pitcher John Lackey and threw to first for the out.

Then in the eighth, with the speedy Ichiro Suzuki on first, Kennedy made a diving stop of Randy Winn’s grounder up the middle, spun around clockwise on his knees and shoveled a backhand flip to second in time to force Ichiro and preserve a scoreless tie.

“That one ranks right up there considering everything -- the runners, the point in the game,” Kennedy said.

Lackey praised Kennedy afterward, saying he should win the Gold Glove “hands down.”

“I appreciate that,” Kennedy said. “Some day, hopefully, I will win it. Within the players, there’s a lot of respect for and understanding of the importance of the Gold Glove.”

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Scioscia had mixed emotions about Seattle designated hitter Edgar Martinez’s announcement that he would retire after this season. “We’ll miss Edgar personally, but there will be a collective sigh of relief around the American League when he retires,” Scioscia said. “He’s just a hitting machine.”

ON DECK

Opponent -- Texas Rangers, three games.

Site -- Angel Stadium.

TV -- Channel 9 tonight, Channel 11 Saturday, FSNW on Sunday.

Radio -- KSPN (710), KTNQ (1020).

Records -- Angels 83-63, Rangers 80-66.

Record vs. Rangers -- 5-7.

Tonight, 7 -- Bartolo Colon (15-11, 5.12) vs. Chan Ho Park (3-5, 5.72).

Saturday, 1 p.m. -- Kelvim Escobar (10-10, 3.86) vs. Juan Dominguez (1-2, 3.91).

Sunday, 1 p.m. -- Jarrod Washburn (11-7, 4.73) vs. Chris Young (1-2, 5.85).