Romero Is Ready to Return From R

Angel reliever J.C. Romero hasn’t pitched in the last five days, which he said he spent “chilling, relaxing, staying ready,” but there may not be much downtime for the left-hander this weekend.

The World Series-champion Chicago White Sox are coming to town, and in the middle of their order will be left-handed slugger Jim Thome, who through Tuesday was batting .333 with nine home runs, a league-leading 21 runs batted in and 23 runs.

When he was with the Minnesota Twins, Romero faced Thome often when Thome played for the Cleveland Indians. Thome has a .333 average with two doubles, five RBIs and no home runs in 15 at-bats against Romero. He has struck out six times and walked twice.

“Knock on wood, I’ve had success against him,” Romero said of Thome. “We both respect each other. It’s going to be a good challenge for me.”

It also has been a bit of a challenge for Romero to adjust to more sporadic playing time. Romero said the more he pitches, the better he feels, but during the Angels’ recent three-game winning streak, Manager Mike Scioscia used only three relievers -- Brendan Donnelly, Scot Shields and closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Even with a four-run cushion in the ninth inning against Detroit on Wednesday at Angel Stadium, Scioscia turned to Shields to finish off the Tigers during a 4-0 victory.

“It’s all good,” Romero said. “I’m here to win, so I’m not worried about getting three or four days off. When I came here, I knew this bullpen had so many good arms. I know I have to stay in shape, stay on top of my game. I have to be ready to turn the switch on.”

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Howie Kendrick and Reggie Willits made their major league debuts Wednesday, which seemed fitting considering they played rookie ball together and were roommates on the road at triple-A Salt Lake.

“I was glad that we even could share our debuts together,” said Willits, who pinch-ran for Edgardo Alfonzo in the eighth inning. “It’s a good situation. We’ve been together for so long.”

Kendrick played flawlessly at second base, starting a double play and ranging to his left to snare a soft liner up the middle by Ivan Rodriguez.

Kendrick was hitless in four at-bats, failing to get the ball out of the infield until second baseman Placido Polanco caught his eighth-inning popup in shallow right field. Kendrick left the clubhouse without speaking to reporters.

“He fit right in on the defensive end, and offensively he just got a little ahead of himself and got a little anxious,” Scioscia said.

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Scioscia gave Darin Erstad and Adam Kennedy the day off, inserting Chone Figgins in center field and Kendrick at second base. Alfonzo took Figgins’ usual spot at third base and Robb Quinlan replaced slumping first baseman Casey Kotchman, Scioscia said, “to infuse a little offense in our lineup.” Kotchman entered in the seventh as a defensive replacement for Quinlan, who singled in three at-bats.