ANGELS' HUDLER GOES 5 FOR 5 : ANGELS 12, BOSTON 2.

Byline: Tim Trepany Daily News Staff Writer

One thing Rex Hudler hasn't learned during the strange odyssey that is his baseball career is a home-run trot.

That was obvious watching him rush around the basepaths Sunday afternoon after his solo home run during the Angels' 12-2 rout of the Boston Red Sox at Anaheim Stadium.

Such a trot was rarely necessary during his 11 seasons in the minors, his year in Japan and his previous seven-plus seasons in the majors.

But now at 35, Hudler had better develop one. At an age when most professional athletes are desperate to hang on to fading skills, Hudler seems to be improving his.

The high-energy utility player continued to make this a career year, going 5 for 5 against the Red Sox to raise his batting average to .363, 101 percentage points higher than his career average.

And the seventh-inning home run was his ninth this season, already a major-league career best even though the season is just more than a quarter over.

``I have no trot,'' he said. ``Sometimes I just can't snap out of gear, that high gear.''

Not that the Angels want him to. Hudler has built his career on versatility and hustle.

Never was that more evident than Sunday, when he was moved from second to center field because Jim Edmonds was out with a strained abdominal muscle and became the 17th Angels player to go 5 for 5.

Hudler sparked a three-run rally in the fifth by stealing a base, added a run in the sixth, homered in the seventh and also robbed Milt Cuyler of an extra-base hit with a difficult over-the-shoulder catch deep in center field to end the seventh inning.

``That was awesome,'' pitcher Shawn Boskie said of Hudler. ``If he does that every time I pitch, we'll win. We'll keep sending him out there until he runs out of gas, then give him a day off and juice him up again.''

His hot bat seemed to be contagious as Tim Wallach and Tim Salmon each drove in three runs, Chili Davis homered for the ninth time and the first from the right side this season, and Garret Anderson hit his sixth homer.

Hudler credited his improvement partly to an extensive offseason conditioning program.

``That and many years of hitting baseballs,'' he said. ``I'm glad at my age I'm finding myself now. I been through a lot. . . . I'm just thankful I'm still playing baseball.''

The offensive outburst supported a strong effort by Boskie, who strengthened his cause to stay in the starting rotation by striking out a career-best 10 batters in seven innings.

Mixing a curveball he developed during the off-season and refined in spring training with a fastball, he scattered six hits to improve to 6-1.

It was his second straight impressive start after a demotion to the bullpen.

``That's probably one of the best games I've even thrown,'' Boskie said. ``It's taken awhile for me to get a breaking pitch where I feel I can strike guys out with it. This was the first day I picked up fruit from my work.''

Boskie began the season as a starter, but after compiling a 9.53 ERA through his first three outings, he was made a reliever.

Now Angels manager Marcel Lachemann is hoping he can fill a hole in the rotation.

``Very much so,'' Lachemann said. ``Sometimes you see a guy who is struggling and he goes to the bullpen and for whatever reason, he comes back, starts and pitches well.''

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Photo

Photo: Boston's Esteban Beltrie leaps over the Angels' DonSlaught as he tries to complete a double play at Anaheim Stadium.

Associated Press