Angels Get Some Hits in on Rangers

The Angels got their pound of flesh Wednesday night, and it will cost them -- Adam Kennedy, who instigated a bench-clearing brawl by charging the mound in the ninth inning, and relievers Kevin Gregg and Brendan Donnelly, who were ejected for hitting Texas batters with pitches in the eighth, will probably be suspended by the commissioner’s office.

But something about a wild night in Ameriquest Field, where the Rangers walloped the Angels, 9-3, and the Angels got in a few haymakers of their own, left a pleasant aftertaste in the mouths of the Angels.

They were surprisingly upbeat, almost ebullient, despite the loss and an ensuing 25-minute, closed-door team meeting.

“There were definitely some things leading up to this, and something needed to happen,” Angels pitcher John Lackey said. “Sometimes stuff like this brings a team together, and hopefully that will be the case. We had a good team discussion. Some good things came out of it. We’re definitely in this together; it’s good to see.”

What Lackey liked to see was two pitchers sticking up for teammates Vladimir Guerrero, who was hit by a pitch and had two other fastballs buzzed under his chin Tuesday, and Juan Rivera, who was hit by a pitch Tuesday, even though the timing of their actions -- and their explanations for them -- seemed a little awkward and clumsy.

The Rangers put the game out of reach early with an eight-run third inning capped by Nelson Cruz’s grand slam off Gregg, who replaced struggling starter Joe Saunders, creating a situation that seemed ripe for retribution by the Angels, who were still fuming about Tuesday’s game.

But for 7 1/2 innings, it was as if some kind of detente had been reached -- no players were hit by pitches; no pitches were thrown up and in.

Manager Mike Scioscia reiterated before the game that “retaliation with beanballs is not a part of our package.” Scioscia, though, does not stand on the mound with a baseball in his hand and revenge in his heart.

With two out in the eighth, Gregg, approaching the 90-pitch mark and working on a sore left knee, threw a pitch behind Ian Kinsler’s head, and umpire Sam Holbrook issued warnings to both benches. Kinsler doubled, and Gregg drilled Michael Young in the lower back with a first-pitch fastball.

Scioscia said Gregg was “trying to run a two-seam fastball inside to Kinsler,” and Gregg, citing fatigue, said he was “trying to throw a sinker down and in” to Young.

Young wasn’t buying it.

“I fully expected to get hit,” the Rangers shortstop said. “It was no big deal. An eye for an eye.”

Gregg and Scioscia were ejected, and Donnelly came on to face Freddy Guzman, who wasn’t even in the stadium Tuesday -- he was called up from triple-A Wednesday.

Donnelly hit Guzman in the hip with a 2-and-1 fastball he said “wasn’t intentional” and was ejected along with bench coach Ron Roenicke. Not even Kennedy seemed to buy that, though.

“There is a lot of respect between the position players on each team,” Kennedy said, “but both teams have pitchers who decided to take things into their own hands.”

The Angels believed hostilities could have ceased had the ninth inning been played without incident, but with two out, Rangers reliever Scott Feldman hit Kennedy in the back with his first pitch.

Kennedy charged the mound, and a wild but brief wrestling match ensued, with players from several teams exchanging punches. Texas third baseman Mark DeRosa tackled Kennedy and Lackey had to be restrained by about six Rangers, as well as Angels bullpen coach Orlando Mercado.

Kennedy and Feldman were ejected. Tensions ran high in the aftermath of the brawl, with Rivera pointing and yelling at the Rangers bench, but there were no further incidents.

“I wish it didn’t happen, but I had no choice but to go out there,” Kennedy said. “I think all the points were made, and they sort of put an exclamation point on it at the end.”

Not a period, though. These teams play each other seven more times in September, and with both sliding out of the American League West race, things could get ugly.

Asked if it was over between the Angels and Rangers, Kennedy said, “Yeah ... I don’t know ... it’s tough to say.”