MOSELEY OFF TO GOOD START, AS ANGELS WIN HRS BY GUERRERO, KENDRICK LIFT L.A.

Byline: BEN VILLA

Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- The best problem to have in sports is having too much talent.

It appears the Angels now have that in their starting rotation.

Dustin Moseley turned in another superb performance by a replacement Angels starter, going six-plus innings, and Vladimir Guerrero hit his third home run as the Angels defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-2 in front of 43,534 at Angel Stadium.

Moseley, 25, is in the starting rotation because Jered Weaver and Bartolo Colon are out with injuries.

However, if Moseley continues to pitch like he did Friday, allowing just one run and scattering five hits while striking out four, he's going to make it difficult for Angels manager Mike Scioscia to send him down to Triple-A Salt Lake when Colon and Weaver return later this month.

"I thought Dustin was terrific," Scioscia said. "We saw the same stuff tonight that we did in the spring. He was changing speeds well and he kept them off-balanced. I thought by the third time through their lineup, they were starting to get to him a little but he made his adjustments and pitched a great game. You can't ask for anything more."

Last season, Moseley pitched 11 innings with the Angels, going 1-0 but with a 9.00 ERA. In spring training this year, he went 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA.

"I'm going to play it by ear, but hopefully I gave them something to think about," Moseley said. "There was some pressure on me because I don't have a solidified job in the rotation but I wanted to pitch five innings and keep my team in the game and I did that."

The Angels broke through with a run in the third inning when Gary Matthews Jr. scored from third base on a passed ball by A's catcher Adam Melhuse, then extended their lead in the fourth to 2-0 when Howie Kendrick belted a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall for his first home run of the season.

The A's cut the Angels lead in half in the top of the sixth inning when Melhuse doubled just out of the reach of a sliding Garret Anderson in left field, then scored on Nick Swisher's two-out single.

Justin Speier, one of the Angels' key free-agent acquistions during the offseason, came through in a tough situation in the seventh inning.

After Oakland's Eric Chavez led off with a double to chase Moseley, Speier came in and struck out Mark Ellis, then got Todd Walker to fly out and Travis Buck to strike out to get out of the inning.

The Angels put the game away in their half of the seventh. Maicer Izturis led off with a single against Jay Witasick and he went to second on a walk to Matthews. Guerrero then crushed a 1-1 pitch over the left-center field wall for a three-run home run to give the Angels a 5-1 lead.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless, albeit rocky, ninth to record his third save.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) The Angels' Vladmir Guerrero, right, high fives third base coach Dino Ebel after Guerrero hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning Friday.

(2) The Angels' Gary Matthews Jr. beats the tag by A's pitcher Joe Kennedy on a passed ball.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer