KENNEDY'S HITS ARE ENGINE FOR ANGELS ANGELS 4, TAMPA BAY 2.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The first thing Adam Kennedy will do this afternoon when he walks into the Angels clubhouse at Tropicana Field is check the lineup. After all, a left-hander is starting for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and that usually has meant a seat on the bench for the left-handed-hitting second baseman.

Kennedy, though, has rendered meaningless the statistical-matchups game many managers play, with a hot bat that continued to sizzle in the Angels' 4-2 victory Wednesday in front of 10,161.

Kennedy went 3 for 4, scored two runs, drove in another, stole a base and played solid defense as the Angels won their sixth game in a row.

Angels starter Kevin Appier, from the Antelope Valley, maintained his status as the club's most consistent pitcher, giving up two runs and six hits in seven innings to improve to 14-9. Scott Schoeneweis and Troy Percival (33rd save) combined for the final two innings.

With the victory, the Angels improved to 84-54, the first time in club history they've been 30 games over .500. They remained 3 1/2 games behind Oakland in the American League West but increased their wild-card lead to 3 1/2 games over Seattle and 6 1/2 over Boston.

Kennedy, from Cal State Northridge, likely will start tonight against Devil Rays left-hander Joe Kennedy, which is no small feat considering how manager Mike Scioscia likes to play the matchups game. But Kennedy's recent 12-game hitting streak cannot be ignored. During the streak, he is batting .511 (23 for 45), lifting his average to .324, fourth best in the American League.

``Yeah, I do,'' Kennedy said when asked if he expected to see his name on the lineup card today. ``But it's no different from every day. If not, I'll be pulling for Benji (Gil) and get ready for something later in the game.''

Kennedy singled and scored in the fifth inning, but the key hit of the game came in the seventh with the game tied 2-2. With Bengie Molina on second base and one out, Kennedy got just enough of a split-finger fastball thrown by Devil Rays pitcher Tanyon Sturtze (3-15), blooping it into shallow right-center and scoring Molina to give the Angels a 3-2 lead.

Kennedy stole second base (his 15th of the year) and scored on David Eckstein's single to put the Angels up 4-2.

``It's been frustrating because I always felt I could play like this, but it wasn't happening,'' Kennedy said. ``Now it's coming at an important time for us.''

Kennedy's teammates have noticed his development.

``He didn't have huge expectations on him, so he's been allowed to mature,'' left fielder Garret Anderson said. ``Hitting where he is in the lineup (usually ninth), he's had time to develop without having to be a big-time producer in the lineup.''

Said center fielder Darin Erstad: ``With the platoon thing, he easily could have had a bad attitude about it, but he went the other way. He took it to heart, and now he's out to prove everybody wrong.''

Scioscia likes to talk about Kennedy's defensive improvement as much as his offensive surge but admitted Kennedy's bat can't be overlooked.

``He's swinging the bat as well as he has in the three years I've seen him,'' Scioscia said. ``Adam's making a strong case to be in there, and in my mind he's an everyday player. This guy's stepping up into a spot where he's in there no matter who's pitching.''

Kennedy's three hits Wednesday were big because the rest of the team combined for only seven more, and three of those came from Eckstein. Sturtze threw the Devil Rays' 12th complete game of the season, the most in the majors. But he was outdone by Appier, who is 5-0 with a 1.09 ERA in his past five starts.

It's the sixth time in his career the 34-year-old Appier has won at least 14 games in a season.

``I think experience is big for me,'' Appier said. ``Because even though I think I have pretty good stuff, I have to be a pitcher out there, and experience is going to help me with that.

``Everything was working tonight, everything was consistent, command-wise.''

--Also: Kennedy fouled off so many pitches into the sparse crowd at Tropicana Field during his third-inning at-bat that a couple of foul balls that reached the third deck went unclaimed. ... Tim Salmon said the bone bruise in his left hand is healed and he will be in the lineup today. Salmon, hit by a pitch Aug. 10, has missed the past 22 games except for one pinch-running appearance. During that stretch the Angels hardly have missed him, going 16-6.

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Angels second baseman Adam Kennedy (2) slides past Tampa Bay catcher John Flaherty to score one of his two runs Wednesday.

Scott Martin/Associated Press

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