Angels Bring Triple-A Game

Angel hitters only look as if they’ve been running on fumes for the last week or so. Thursday, Tommy Murphy actually was.

The newest Angel, told in the sixth inning of a triple-A game Wednesday night that he was going to the big leagues, took a red-eye flight from Salt Lake City to Atlanta, landing at 5:45 a.m. EDT, connected to an 8 a.m. flight to Detroit, landing at 10 a.m., and reached Comerica Park about two hours before a 1 p.m. game against the Tigers.

Total hours of sleep Murphy got during his all-night trip?

“None,” the speedy outfielder said. “I was too excited.”

Who needs sleep when you have the adrenaline and exuberance of a 26-year-old making his major league debut? Murphy contributed two hits, a key run batted in and a superb sliding catch in the gap Thursday, leading a youth movement that pushed the Angels to a 7-2 victory over the Tigers.

Vladimir Guerrero had four hits, including a three-run home run in the seventh, and Casey Kotchman, who began the day with a .159 average, hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the second against Justin Verlander to break a 1-1 tie.

The Angels, who had batted .188 and scored 24 runs in their previous nine games, had a season-high 15 hits to end their losing streak at six games and Detroit’s win streak at six.

But it was the contributions of four players who began the season at Salt Lake, two of whom began this week at triple-A, that stood out the most.

Kevin Gregg, making his first big-league start of the season, threw a cold rag over a hot lineup, limiting the Tigers to one run and three hits, striking out three and walking none to earn the victory.

Catcher Mike Napoli, recalled from Salt Lake on Wednesday night, became the 92nd player in major league history and third Angel to homer in his first big league at-bat, driving a Verlander breaking ball over the wall in left-center for a 1-0 lead in the third.

Designated hitter Howie Kendrick, called up April 24, hit a clutch, two-out run-scoring single in the sixth to give the Angels a 4-1 lead, and Murphy capped a two-run fifth with a run-scoring single and singled and scored on Guerrero’s homer in the seventh.

“It’s like in spring training, sometimes the B-squad scores 15 runs,” said Angel veteran Tim Salmon, who had the day off. “It’s good. It’s what the team needed right now, that freshness. We had a lot more adrenaline going.”

Though a lineup that featured Kendrick, Napoli and Murphy in the last three spots didn’t appear to be strong enough to beat one of baseball’s most promising rookie pitchers, Gregg (2-0) was not surprised by the result.

“The thing is, the guys we’ve been calling up, I played with at the start of the year, so I knew what they were capable of,” Gregg said. “I knew they’d be excited to be here. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to have a couple of guys like that around who light a little fire under everybody else, to get them going.”

A quality start doesn’t hurt either. Gregg, plagued by command problems in the past, set the tone with a crisp, aggressive performance, one that will keep him in the rotation for at least one more start.

“I just wanted to come out and challenge them, not fall behind in counts, let them put the ball in play and let the defense do the work,” Gregg said. “Command has been the issue with me, but the more I pitch, the more comfortable I feel.”

Napoli did a solid job behind the plate and showed he is a quick study at the plate, processing information gleaned during Kendrick’s second-inning strikeout before hitting his home run.

“I saw what [Verlander] did with Howie -- he got ahead and put him away with the curve,” Napoli said. “I got down, 1-and-2, and looked for a curve.”

Napoli and Murphy got the balls from their first hits, and the Angel scouting department got a little boost.

“It was a fun day, especially for the player development staff when they see the box score,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It was good to see the kids perform like that.”

* BOX SCORE, ANGEL REPORT, D5

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First-time power

Angels who have homered in their first major-league at-bat:

* Don Rose, May 24, 1972, at Oakland. Rose, a pitcher, homered on the first pitch from Vida Blue. It was his only major league home run, and the 6-5 victory he posted over the Athletics was his lone major league victory.

* Dave Machemer, June 21, 1978, at Minnesota. Machemer, who played only 29 games in two seasons in the majors and never hit another home run, connected off Geoff Zahn during a 5-2 victory over the Twins.

* Mike Napoli, May 4, 2006, at Detroit. Napoli, recalled one day earlier from triple-A Salt Lake, homered off Justin Verlander in the third inning of a 7-2 victory over the Tigers.