A FIRST TIME FOR NOTHING APPIER, THREE RELIEVERS GET ANGELS' INITIAL SHUTOUT OF YEAR ANGELS 4, TORONTO 0.

Byline: Dave Werstine Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - One of two things was bound to happen when Toronto's Mike Smith took the mound in his major-league debut Friday night: Either the Angels would have a tough time figuring out the new pitcher, or they would feast on a rookie.

Before the game, Angels manager Mike Scioscia felt Smith would have the edge, saying, ``When you've never seen a guy before, the pitcher has a slight advantage.''

After the game, Scioscia was glad to have been wrong. The Angels scored all the runs they needed in the first inning and beat the Blue Jays 4-0 in the opener of a three-game series in front of 25,296 at Edison Field.

Angels starter Kevin Appier and a three relievers made the first-inning blitz stand up, helping the Angels pick up their first shutout of the season and win back-to-back games for just the third time.

After going 1-8 at home to open the season, the Angels have won three of four at Edison Field.

With the same lineup that pounded out a season-high 16 hits in a 10-6 victory in Seattle on Wednesday, the Angels jumped all over Smith in the first inning. The sent eight batters to the plate, collected four hits and used a hit batsman to score four runs against Smith, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse earlier Friday to replace Chris Carpenter in the rotation.

But the Angels hardly were thinking big in the bottom of the first. After Smith hit leadoff batter David Eckstein with a pitch to start the game, the Angels seemed happy to just manufacture an early run when Adam Kennedy put down a sacrifice bunt to move Eckstein to second.

The strategy changed, however, after Orlando Palmeiro and Garret Anderson singled and Troy Glaus doubled down the right-field line to make it 3-0. One out later, Brad Fullmer singled to score Anderson and make it 4-0.

Smith (0-1), who also hit another batter, threw a wild pitch and was tagged for another three hits, was able to get through the next three innings unscathed, although the Angels mounted scoring threats in the second, third and fourth innings. But the damage already had been done.

Given the early cushion, Appier (2-1) recovered well from his last outing, a 2 2/3-inning, six-hit, six-run effort against Oakland on April 20.

Appier, from Antelope Valley High, scattered seven hits over 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out five before being pulled in favor of Dennis Cook.

BLUE JAYS vs. ANGELS

Time: 7:05 p.m. at Edison Field

Matchups: Aaron Sele (0-2, 6.65) will pitch for the Angels; as of late Friday, Toronto had not decided on a starting pitcher.

Television/Radio: FOX Sports Net; 570 AM, 1090 AM (Spanish)

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

The Angels' David Eckstein dives back to first base Friday night as Toronto's Carlos Delgado awaits the throw.

Chris Urso/Associated Press

Box:

BLUE JAYS vs. ANGELS (see text)