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 on Friday night: the Angels would have a tough time figuring out the new pitcher or they would take it to the rookie.

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

Scioscia was glad to have been wrong as the Angels scored all of the runs they needed in the first inning and went on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-0, in the first of a three-game series before 25,296 at Edison Field.

Angels starter Kevin Appier and a trio of relievers made the first inning stand up as Anaheim picked up its first shutout since a 1-0 win over the Dodgers on June 8, 2001 and won back-to-back games for just the third time this season. After going 1-8 at home to open the season, the Angels have won three of four at Edison Field.

``It's excellent because you have room to work with right out of the gate,'' Appier said. ``It gives you some room for error.''

With the same lineup that got a season-high 16 hits in a 10-6 victory at Seattle on Wednesday, the Angels sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning against Smith. They collected four hits and used a hit batsman to take a 4-0 lead against Smith, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse earlier Friday to replace Chris Carpenter in the rotation.

But the Angels were hardly 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 as Adam Kennedy put down a sacrifice bunt to move Eckstein to second.

That strategy changed 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 for a 4-0 lead.

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 was already done.

``We wanted to put pressure on him, make him pitch with guys on base,'' Kennedy said. ``He didn't pitch bad, but it was nice get on him early.

``It's amazing what a little momentum can do early in game. It definitely helped to jump on top.

ANGELS vs. TORONTO

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.

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

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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:

ANGELS vs. TORONTO (see text)