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Monday, Jul. 17 10:05pm ET
Time in minors helps rookie find his groove | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Anaheim Angels rookie Brian Cooper spent the All-Star break in the minors and didn't mind it a bit. Because his last start of the first half was July 5, Cooper would have had 11 days off before his next one. So the Angels optioned him to Class A Lake Elsinore and he pitched against Lancaster on the night of the big league All-Star Game. "I was able to go down there and work on some things that I wouldn't try working on at the major league level," Cooper said after beating the San Diego Padres 3-2 Monday night. "It kept me fresh." One of the things he worked on was his curveball, which he had used in only two previous starts. "It bailed me out tonight," said Cooper (4-3), who held the Padres to two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and four walks. Matt Walbeck hit a go-ahead two-run homer for the Angels. Anaheim's Darin Erstad went 2-for-4 to raise his major league-leading hit total to 154. After his leadoff single in the fifth, the last 15 Angels were retired in order. Cooper walked two consecutive batters with one out in the seventh, prompting manager Mike Scioscia to go to his bullpen. Mark Petkovsek and Mike Holtz each retired a batter to end the threat. Troy Percival, who blew the save in the 6-5, 10-inning defeat Sunday, pitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 28 opportunities. Walbeck, the Angels' backup catcher, was impressed with Cooper. "He didn't have his best stuff," Walbeck said. "But when you see a young guy like that not having his best stuff get by, make the pitch when he has too, that just goes to show you he has a big heart and he wants to be out there." The Angels cooled off Matt Clement, who had won his last three starts -- the first Padres pitcher to win three in a row all year -- and four of five. Clement (9-8), who allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings, matched his season-high with eight strikeouts and walked one. In the fourth inning, and Adam Kennedy on first after an infield single, Walbeck homered to right with two outs, his fourth of the season, to give the Angels a 3-1 lead. "One bad pitch," Clement said. "The home run I gave up to Walbeck cost us the game. I haven't seen the replay and I don't think I want to." San Diego closed to one run in the sixth when Ryan Klesko doubled into the Angels bullpen in the right-field corner and scored on Phil Nevin's single. Each team scored a run in the first inning. Erstad hit a leadoff double and scored on Mo Vaughn's one-out double. San Diego's Al Martin tripled with one out and scored on Klesko's single. Game notesKlesko's bat went flying into the field-level stands in the eighth inning and struck a woman in the face. Padres trainer Todd Hutcheson tended to the woman, who left under her own power. ... In a trade of minor-leaguers, the Padres reacquired third baseman Gabe Alvarez from Detroit for ultility player Dusty Allen. Alvarez, who was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas, was taken by the Padres in the second round of the 1995 draft, but they lost him to Arizona in the expansion draft in November 1997. He was traded to the Tigers the same day. ... Center fielder Ruben Rivera sat out Monday night after striking out 22 times in his last 11 games, fanning at least once in each of the 11 games. He was replaced by rookie Kory DeHaan, who made his first start in center and his 10th overall in the outfield. ... Right-handed pitchers Carlton Loewer and Brian Boehringer will both have season-ending arthroscopic surgery on their pitching shoulders Tuesday, to be performed by team doctors Lewis Yocum of the Angels and Jan Fronek of the Padres at Centinela Hospital in Los Angeles. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Anaheim Clubhouse San Diego Clubhouse RECAPS Oakland 11 Colorado 10
Colorado 10
Anaheim 3
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