BOTTENFIELD IS RIGHT ON TARGET NEWCOMER THROWS SEVEN SHUTOUT INNINGS ANGELS 3, CHICAGO 1.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

CHICAGO - Coming to a new team, Kent Bottenfield's goal was to gain the respect of his Angels teammates.

Hogwash, says Mo Vaughn. Bottenfield doesn't have to prove anything. He had that respect, even before throwing seven shutout innings in the Angels' 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday afternoon before 14,135 at Comiskey Park.

The White Sox entered the game with the best team batting average (.328) in the major leagues, but Bottenfield, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in the March 23 trade for Jim Edmonds, kept them off balance all day with his array of off-speed pitches and pinpoint control.

The White Sox got five hits off him, but never more than one in any inning and only one White Sox baserunner reached third while he was in there.

``He doesn't have to gain our respect,'' Vaughn said. ``He's a professional. The way he goes about his business every day. We love him over here. He's always had the respect, there's nothing he has to show us. Just being out here with us and putting on the uniform is enough.''

The Angels scored three runs off White Sox starter Kip Wells (0-2) in the first inning on an RBI single by Garret Anderson and a two-run double by Troy Glaus. But they didn't score again, getting only one hit after the third inning.

Fortunately for them, they had Bottenfield (1-1) on the mound. After 121 pitches, Bottenfield was replaced by Shigetoshi Hasegawa to start the eighth. Hasegawa gave up a home run to Greg Norton to lead off the inning but got a big out when he struck out Frank Thomas and handed the ball over to Troy Percival to start the ninth with the 3-1 lead intact.

Percival retired the only three batters he faced in the ninth to record his third save.

``You're talking about the hottest hitting club in all of baseball right now,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of the White Sox, who were averaging 7.3 runs per game before Saturday. ``To do a job like that for seven innings was tremendous.''

Bottenfield doesn't throw harder than 85-86 mph, but his pregame preparation is intense. He studies 8-10 hours of videotape between starts to learn hitters' tendencies. Combine that with the ability to hit his spots, and it explains why Bottenfield won 18 games last season.

Bottenfield faced trouble only once Saturday. It came in the fifth inning after an error by Glaus at third base and a single by Maglio Ordonez gave the White Sox runners at first and third with one out.

Paul Konerko lined out to third for the second out, but Bottenfield issued one of his two walks to Chris Singleton to load the bases for Carlos Lee. Lee flied out to right to end the threat.

``I don't base my pitch-selection on counts all the time,'' Bottenfield said of keeping hitters off balance. ``I base it on what a hitter might be looking for, and what I can be more effective with, even if it's a 3-0 changeup.''