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Weaver Not Quite in the Zone

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Times Staff Writer

The Angels will review the videotape of Jered Weaver’s major league spring-training debut Friday, an uneven, 1 2/3 -inning stint in which the highly touted right-hander was both overpowering (two strikeouts) and wild (four walks) in the Angels’ 10-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.

They might also want to check the audiotape of Weaver’s ensuing session with reporters, in which the former Cal State Long Beach star inadvertently questioned the work of an umpire who is in his 22nd big league season. “I knew I was going to get a little adrenaline out there, and I definitely felt it -- I was a little wild,” Weaver said. “Three walks isn’t my game, obviously. I got squeezed a little bit. It’s going to come with the territory. It just gave me a chance to work on my demeanor out there and not let things bother me.”

Weaver was impressive in striking out Mike Cameron and Mark Bellhorn, showing a crisp fastball and a nice slider, and he froze Dave Roberts, picking the Padre speedster off first. But Weaver also walked the bases loaded in the sixth before Dustin Moseley relieved and got him out of the jam.

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Asked to elaborate on being “squeezed” by umpire Gerry Davis, Weaver said, “I think any new guy coming in, it’s going to happen.”

Weaver added that his older brother Jeff had told him “to expect that.” “Like I said, it gave me a chance to work on my composure,” Jered Weaver added. “In the past it’s kind of gotten to me in college, and I’ve been working on it a lot.”

Regardless of the strike zone, Manager Mike Scioscia thought Weaver handled himself well.

“Sometimes pitches are not called strikes, but that’s going to happen,” Scioscia said. “I thought [Weaver] got to the next pitch well. He didn’t let it affect him.”

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Tim Salmon’s comeback from shoulder and knee surgery is off to a rousing start. The veteran outfielder had three singles in Tuesday’s intrasquad game, another single in Thursday’s exhibition game against Milwaukee and singled sharply to left field twice in Friday’s game.

Second-base prospect Howie Kendrick also had two hits Friday, showing enough strength to send a broken-bat single to shallow right and lining a hard single to center. The Angels broke the game open with a six-run seventh, which featured Mike Napoli’s three-run triple and Kendry Morales’ two-run single.

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Right fielder Vladimir Guerrero has decided to remain in Arizona instead of traveling to the Dominican Republic, where three of his cousins were killed in a car accident Sunday.

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A fourth cousin who was injured in the wreck, 23-year-old Wilmer Paulino, was released from a San Cristobal hospital and appears to be OK.

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John Lackey, scratched from Tuesday’s intrasquad game because of shoulder stiffness, played catch again and will extend to long toss today. The right-hander will probably need at least two bullpen sessions before pitching in an exhibition game.

“I can still feel it a little bit, but it has subsided a great deal,” Lackey said of the discomfort.

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