Howie Kendrick

CHICAGO - Mike Trout spared the Angels the indignity of being on the wrong end of a perfect game or no-hitter Sunday night, grounding a single to center field with one out in the top of the seventh inning after Chicago White Sox starter Chris Sale retired the first 19 batters. That was it as far as offensive highlights for the Angels, who were one-hit by Sale in a 3-0 loss in U.S. Cellular Field that ended their win streak at three and dropped them to 14-23 and 10 games behind Texas in the American League West.

It's early, but it's not that early. The Angels began the second quarter of the season with another ugly loss Thursday night, committing two errors plus a crucial mental mistake, throwing a wild pitch that scored a run and issuing a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk to a .185 hitter who had not drawn a free pass all season. The 5-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox dropped the Angels to 15-26, their worst 41-game start since 1976, and 12 games behind Texas in the American League West. There is still time for the Angels to make up ground, but the task ahead is daunting.

Mariners 8, Angels 5 AT THE PLATE: Howie Kendrick, Vernon Wells and Peter Bourjos each had two hits. Kendrick raised his average to a team-leading .500 and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Bourjos hit his second home run of the Cactus League season. ON THE MOUND: The Angels got another good performance from a starter. Tommy Hanson gave up two hits - both homers - in four innings. In their most recent Cactus League appearances, Angels starters have a 3.05 earned-run average and have allowed 18 hits in 20 2/3 innings.

There are issues in the starting rotation, in the bullpen, on the bench. For the Angels, those are minor issues. These Angels are built to outslug the opposition. If they don't hit, the rest doesn't matter. Those Angels showed up on Tuesday. For the first time this season, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton hit home runs in the same game. "If those two guys get going, that's a lot of damage that can be done," second baseman Howie Kendrick said. Kendrick and Mike Trout each hit a home run too, in a 6-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

OAKLAND — Several big league veterans, including Torii Hunter , were convinced Howie Kendrick would win a batting title some day after the Angels second baseman hit .285 as a rookie in 2006, .322 in 2007 and .306 in 2008. Entering Tuesday, the only category in which Kendrick ranked among American League leaders was strikeouts — he was tied for ninth with 39, including five three-whiff games, in 161 plate appearances. That Kendrick went five for 38 in 11 games through Monday, a .132 clip that dropped his average from .298 on May 9 to .257, is disturbing enough.

The Angels' latest salary drive starts Saturday, when Kelvim Escobar comes off the disabled list to start against the Detroit Tigers. John Lackey, Vladimir Guerrero, Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu form an already distinguished list of pending free agents on the Angels. Escobar, who has not pitched in the major leagues in 20 months because of a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery, has four months to impress potential employers, including the Angels.

TEMPE, Ariz. - The breathless stories that tracked Howie Kendrick through the minor leagues and into the majors were all but required to refer to him as a future batting champion. And why not? In his four full minor league seasons, he batted .368, .367, .366 and .369. In 2007, the first year he broke camp with the Angels, he batted .322. He was 24. He turns 30 this summer. In the three years he has had enough at-bats to qualify for the American League batting title, he has not finished in the top 20. The Angels are happy with their second baseman.

Reporting from Kansas City, Mo. The ideal No. 2 hitter is a patient batter who has a high on-base percentage, draws walks and likes to see a lot of pitches. Howie Kendrick , who has hit second in the Angel lineup the first two games, is none of those things. "I don't know if he's a prototypical No. 2 guy," Manager Mike Scioscia said. But "he can just flat-out hit. So you're not really looking for him to work counts. You're looking for production. " Kendrick gave Scioscia what he was looking for Friday, drilling a full-count pitch over the center-field wall in the first inning.

Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto has had preliminary discussions with the agents for second baseman Howie Kendrick and shortstop Erick Aybar about multiple-year deals that would prevent the infielders from becoming free agents after the 2012 season. Kendrick, who hit .285 with 18 home runs, 30 doubles and 63 runs batted in last season, and the slick-fielding Aybar, who hit .279 with 10 homers, 33 doubles and 59 RBIs, are entering their final years of arbitration. "At this point, it's something we've begun to explore and will continue to explore," Dipoto said.

Reporting from Arlington, Texas — Here today, there tomorrow. There are no givens anymore when it comes to the Angels infield. Howie Kendrick , who had made his first 96 starts of the season at second base, was the starting first baseman Sunday when the Angels played the Texas Rangers at the Ballpark in Arlington. It was the first time Kendrick played first base since 2006, when he made 25 starts there so that the Angels could get his bat in the lineup with Adam Kennedy entrenched at second base.

There are issues in the starting rotation, in the bullpen, on the bench. For the Angels, those are minor issues. These Angels are built to outslug the opposition. If they don't hit, the rest doesn't matter. Those Angels showed up on Tuesday. For the first time this season, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton hit home runs in the same game. BOX SCORE: Angels 6, Kansas City 2 "If those two guys get going, that's a lot of damage that can be done," second baseman Howie Kendrick said.

CHICAGO - Mike Trout spared the Angels the indignity of being on the wrong end of a perfect game or no-hitter Sunday night, grounding a single to center field with one out in the top of the seventh inning after Chicago White Sox starter Chris Sale retired the first 19 batters. That was it as far as offensive highlights for the Angels, who were one-hit by Sale in a 3-0 loss in U.S. Cellular Field that ended their win streak at three and dropped them to 14-23 and 10 games behind Texas in the American League West.

CHICAGO - When the Angels got Josh Hamilton following the Dodgers' signing of Zack Greinke , owner Arte Moreno emerged from hiding, took a bow and told everyone: "Think about how much fun it's going to be. Dodger fans and Angels fans get to argue about whose team is better, who's stronger, who's weaker.… Do you know how much fun it's going to be?" What a blast …of hot air. Are you having fun yet? I began the week talking to Don Mattingly , who felt really good about the Dodgers after three straight losses to the Giants.

HOUSTON - At this rate, teams will soon look at the Angels as a welcome respite on the schedule, an opponent that, like the lowly Houston Astros, they can use to fatten up their record. There was no such feast for the Angels in Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night. Hank Conger became the first catcher in Angels history to commit three errors in a game, C.J. Wilson gave up a three-run homer in a five-run third inning, and the Angels lost to the Astros, 7-6. The Angels, despite home runs by Mark Trumbo, Howie Kendrick and Alberto Callaspo and a career-high 12 strikeouts from Wilson, have lost 10 of 13 games to fall to 11-21, matching the worst 32-game start in franchise history.

When the Angels added Josh Hamilton in the off-season to what was already the most expensive team in franchise history, the expectation was that the results would be historic. And they have been, just not in the way the Angels had hoped. Because with Sunday's 8-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, their ninth in 12 games, the Angels (11-20) matched their worst 31-game start. They're already nine games behind first-place Texas in the division race and, five weeks into a season in which they were supposed to compete for a championship, they find themselves heading off on a six-game trip Tuesday that is shaping up as crucial.

Chris Iannetta noted nothing valiant about catching all 19 innings of the Angels' 10-8 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Monday night, not when the lasting image from that grueling night of work was the A's swarming home plate to celebrate Brandon Moss' game-winning two-run home run to right field. "It's a loss, and it stinks," Iannetta said. "You never want to lose, especially when you have every opportunity to win. We had a five-run lead and that disappeared. We scored a run to go ahead in the 15th and made errors and lost the lead.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Manager Mike Scioscia said Howie Kendrick's calf muscle was "a little sore" Wednesday and "was part of the equation" in his decision to let slow-footed Kendrys Morales run in the ninth inning of a gut-wrenching 11-10 loss to the Rangers. But Kendrick was in the lineup Thursday and said he could have pinch-run Wednesday if called upon. "I got up later in the game and was loose, ready to run," Kendrick said. "I was available. If I was injured, I wouldn't be in there tonight.

Mike Scioscia might be perceived as more old school than computer geek, but the Angels manager does study in-depth batting statistics. "Some of the stuff is very good, and it can help you slot and match guys up," Scioscia said. Scioscia moved second baseman Howie Kendrick from second to sixth in the batting order April 30, and the second baseman has batted .333 in the spot since. The oddity of Kendrick's 26-point leap in batting average was that he went without a run batted in from May 3 until Wednesday.

- The Angels have sweat out harrowing late-inning moments in most of their 10 victories this season, but they could have made things a lot easier on themselves Wednesday had they not run into two outs on the bases in the eighth inning. Erick Aybar opened the inning with a single and was thrown out trying to steal, the seventh time in 17 tries the Angels have been thrown out stealing. Mike Trout tripled to center field and scored on Albert Pujols' sacrifice fly to give the Angels a 5-2 lead over the Oakland Athletics.

OAKLAND - Monday night merged into Tuesday, and on and on the Angels and Oakland Athletics played, their game stretching so far into the wee hours of the morning that the cows were home and tucked into bed long before it was over. It was the longest time of game in Angels history, 6 hours and 32 minutes, and it went 19 innings, one shy of the franchise record for innings, the teams combining to use 40 players and throw 598 pitches. But it ended all too suddenly for the Angels, as Brandon Moss hit a two-run homer off Angels reliever Barry Enright at 1:41 a.m. PDT to give the Athletics a grueling 10-8, 19-inning walk-off victory in the Oakland Coliseum and send the Angels (9-16)