ANGELS NOTEBOOK: WATSON TALKS TO SKIPPERS.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA Staff Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Angels and Texas Rangers had the opportunity to explain themselves Friday, as Bob Watson was in town from New York.

Baseball's vice president of on-field operations originally was scheduled to be in town to hear the appeals of the Angels' Brendan Donnelly and the Rangers' Scott Feldman, but both served their suspensions this week.

Watson instead spoke to manager Mike Scioscia and his Rangers counterpart, Buck Showalter, about incidents between the teams that escalated to a bench-clearing brawl Aug. 16. As a result, eight players or coaches were suspended and 10 received fines.

``We talked about a lot of things that happened and there was an understanding,'' Scioscia said. ``Let's just leave it at we talked.''

Watson said Scioscia's biggest concern was that the Rangers' Adam Eaton was only fined and not suspended after he was deemed to intentionally throw at Juan Rivera on Sept. 6 at Anaheim. Eaton was ejected in the first inning.

``He felt if we had suspended a guy it would have been a dead issue,'' Watson said. ``Since it wasn't a suspension, they took matters into their own hands. Consequently, (the fight happened) the last time they played and I took matters into my own hands.''

Watson said it was punishment enough that Eaton was fined and that his early ejection taxed the team's bullpen for a few days.

Escobar OK: Kelvim Escobar said an MRI on his left knee showed only tendinitis, and he plans on making his next start Wednesday at Kansas City. Escobar pitched just four innings Thursday because of knee pain.

If Escobar is unable to start, Jered Weaver could take his spot since Monday's off day would give him his usual amount of rest.

Fan punished: A fan sitting near the Angels bullpen Thursday was cited for simple assault and given a criminal trespass warning. The fan, who was not identified, was badgering members of the Angels bullpen and poured a beer on bullpen coach Orlando Mercado at the completion of the game.

A criminal trespass warning means the fan can't come to Ameriquest Field for a year.

According to a witness, he was yelling to members of the Angels bullpen to give a young fan a ball. Even after a ball was signed and given to the young fan, the insults continued. The fan boasted he was a season-ticket holder, which helped security identify him.