ANGELS NOTEBOOK: SCIOSCIA ISN'T GOING GOOFY.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - When Oakland Athletics starter Tim Hudson said Angels manager Mike Scioscia as playing ``Mickey Mouse baseball'' after Tuesday night's game, it opened the door for a potential war of words between the budding American League West rivals.

Scioscia moved quickly Wednesday to relax the situation.

``I like Disneyland,'' he said. ``I go there as much as I can. That's fine.''

Although Scioscia refused to return Hudson's volley, saying he had ``the utmost respect for Tim,'' he did not back down from his assertion that Hudson was stopping twice while working from the stretch, and disputed Hudson's claim he was badgering third base umpire Ed Montague into calling a balk. Montague called the balk during the Angels' three-run third inning Tuesday.

``I didn't keep harping on it. I asked Eddie one time. That was it,'' Scioscia said. ``In his windup, he's got a little bit of a timing device he's added. In the stretch, he added what looks like a double stop.''

The A's might be perceiving Scioscia as a serial haranguer. In a series here in April, he had an extended pregame discussion with the home-plate umpire over A's starter Mark Mulder's foot position on the pitching rubber. Manager Ken Macha bit his tongue when asked if he was tiring of Scioscia's perceived gamesmanship.

``Maybe he's tired of ... I don't know. I try to focus on my players,'' Macha said. ``Make sure the focus is on the game. That's the right thing.''

Macha had not seen tape of Hudson's balk, noting his pregame time Wednesday was consumed with ``another article,'' that being an Internet report in which reliever Arthur Rhodes torched Oakland's starters for criticizing the bullpen.

--Percival close? Closer Troy Percival will throw a simulated game today and said he could be activated from the disabled list by Saturday, about two weeks before the best-case scenario he laid out when placed on the DL because of elbow pain and a forearm injury.

``That's my plan, not theirs,'' he said.

Scioscia said Percival probably won't need a rehabilitation assignment, and will regain the closer role from Francisco Rodriguez, perhaps after an initial outing.

``Ideally, you like a guy to get an inning first, but I've seen Percy come out of long stretches before and go right back in,'' Scioscia said.

--Donnelly ready for more: Percival isn't the only one raring to get back to his old role. After three appearances, including a perfect 1 1/3-inning, two-strikeout stint Tuesday, Brendan Donnelly said he's ready to assume late-game pressure situations and join Rodriguez and Scot Shields in a set-up role.

``Where my stuff and my comfort level are, I'm ready for it now,'' he said. ``Everything's going the way I want it to go. Now I want to keep moving toward that back end of the bullpen.''

--Nice debut: Third baseman Dallas McPherson debuted at Triple-A Salt Lake by hitting a single, home run and double in his first three at-bats Tuesday night. McPherson, 23, hit .321 with 20 homers and 69 RBIs in 68 games at Double-A Arkansas. ... Pitcher Bobby Jenks, shut down since April 19 with a stress reaction in his elbow, made a rehab start Tuesday with the Angels' Mesa (Ariz.) rookie club and was activated Wednesday, getting assigned to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

ANGELS vs. OAKLAND

- Gabe Lacques