Matt Palmer

There is an explanation for what seems like a real head-scratcher of a move, the Angels' decision to recall struggling triple-A right-hander Matt Palmer to start against the Tigers tonight instead of effective veteran long reliever Darren Oliver. Oliver, who gave up one run and five hits in four innings of a spot start against Minnesota on Saturday, was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left triceps. "We're trying to nurse him back . . .

Mike Scioscia doesn't want expectations to soar too high for his talented batch of rookies, cautioning after Tuesday's lopsided win that "there's going to be a learning curve for a lot of these youngsters. " What the Angels manager failed to mention is there will be learning fastballs, sliders and changeups. The Angels saw — and missed — their share of them from Oakland right-hander Tyson Ross , who needed only 76 pitches to breeze through seven scoreless innings Wednesday.

Reporting from Phoenix Scott Kazmir has done little to warrant a rotation spot, but Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said Friday morning that the struggling left-hander, who has a 7.79 earned-run average, 23 hits allowed, 12 walks and 10 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings, will open the season in the rotation. Then another option emerged Friday afternoon. Matt Palmer , slowed this month by bronchitis, had his best outing of the spring, allowing one run and four hits in six innings of the Angels' 10-3 exhibition victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Ervin Santana delivered a quality start, and Fernando Rodney threw a scoreless ninth inning Friday night. Just the way the Angels drew it up in spring training, right? Not quite. Much like the Angels bullpen in the season-opening series in Kansas City, that blueprint quickly went up in smoke. Rodney, stripped of his closer's role when he lost touch with the strike zone against the Royals, was pitching because the Angels were trailing, not leading, in the ninth. And though Santana looked strong through eight, he made one costly mistake that spoiled the home opener on a chilly, 52-degree evening at Angel Stadium.

The starting pitchers for today's Angels-Yankees game have a combined 2009 salary of $23.4 million; CC Sabathia of the Yankees will make $23 million, and Matt Palmer of the Angels will make $400,000, as long as he remains in the major leagues. "That's funny, now that you mention it," said Palmer, a 30-year-old right-hander who has made all of four big league starts. "It does seem a little extravagant. I won't think about that [today], but in the big picture, I'm a little smaller than him."

The Angels have discovered a foolproof method for preventing their relievers from fouling things up in the later innings: Take them out of the equation. Matt Palmer, a 30-year-old right-hander who nearly quit baseball three years ago, threw the team's third complete game in seven days, retiring the last 19 batters in a row, to lead the Angels to an 8-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night.

There will be few relievers in the playoffs with as impressive credentials as a starter as Matt Palmer 's . The Angels right-hander capped an improbable regular season with his final and perhaps most memorable start Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, uniting with four relievers for a combined one-hitter during a 5-0 victory over Texas. Julio Borbon led off the game with a single to right-center, and the only other Rangers to reach base did so via five walks. Palmer, Darren Oliver , Jose Arredondo , Kevin Jepsen and Rafael Rodriguez gave the Angels their first combined one-hitter since July 27, 2004, against Texas.

Trevor Bell was rocked for six runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings of an 8-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in the Rogers Centre today, throwing the back of the Angels rotation into a state of uncertainty . . . again. Because of the tragic death of Nick Adenhart in April and numerous injuries, the Angels have patched their rotation together using 13 different starters this season, five of them rookies, and they have pretty much exhausted their in-house options. Sean O'Sullivan appeared to be an answer, going 3-0 with a 3.72 earned-run average in his first five big league starts.

A pair of minor earthquakes shook Angel Stadium on Thursday night, but the twin tremors couldn't even crack the top five list of oddities that occurred during the Angels' 10-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers. First, there was pitcher Matt Palmer, who went 1-1 with an 11.74 earned-run average in two games at triple-A Salt Lake before being called up to plug the latest hole in the Angels' rotation.

Returning to their regularly scheduled starting rotation might not represent much of an upgrade for the Angels if it means displacing Matt Palmer. All the 30-year-old right-hander has done since being promoted from the minor leagues last month is impress, his latest start propelling the Angels to a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night at Angel Stadium.

Joel Pineiro, who is still experiencing discomfort in his right shoulder, will not join the Angels' rotation next week as expected, and the team says it is uncertain when he'll be able to pitch again. Joel Pineiro , who is still experiencing discomfort in his right shoulder, will not join the Angels' rotation next week as expected, and the team says it is uncertain when he will be able to pitch again. "We want him in the rotation. He's important to us," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said.

The Angels don't need Scott Kazmir to lead the league in strikeouts, like he did when he whiffed 239 batters for Tampa Bay in 2007. They don't need him to win 20 games or compile a sub-3.50 earned-run average. As the fifth starter on a team with four very good ones — Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, Ervin Santana and Joel Pineiro — Kazmir needs to pitch well enough to give the Angels a chance to win and long enough to prevent the bullpen from being overworked every fifth game. The left-hander didn't go deep into Tuesday night's 5-1 exhibition victory by the Angels over the Dodgers in Angel Stadium, throwing only 49 pitches in 41/3 innings, though that was by design.

Success seemed to come easily for Jered Weaver in 2006, when he went 9-0 to start his big-league career, finished with an 11-2 record and 2.56 earned run average and held opponents to a meager .209 batting average. So when then-teammate John Lackey began harping on him to increase the intensity of his workouts between starts, Weaver all but ignored him. Who needs direction from a more experienced pitcher when you're rolling through the American League as if it were the Big West Conference?

Reporting from Phoenix Scott Kazmir has done little to warrant a rotation spot, but Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said Friday morning that the struggling left-hander, who has a 7.79 earned-run average, 23 hits allowed, 12 walks and 10 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings, will open the season in the rotation. Then another option emerged Friday afternoon. Matt Palmer , slowed this month by bronchitis, had his best outing of the spring, allowing one run and four hits in six innings of the Angels' 10-3 exhibition victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Angels 6, Colorado 6 (10 inning) AT THE PLATE: Torii Hunter had three hits, including his third home run of the spring and a double, Vernon Wells had two hits, including a run-scoring double, and Howie Kendrick, after smoking two line-drive outs in his first two at-bats, had a run-scoring triple in the fifth inning. ON THE MOUND: It was a rough day for Matt Palmer, who gave up four runs and seven straight hits, including Troy Tulowitzki's three-run homer, in the first.

Reporting from Tempe, Ariz. Right-hander Rich Thompson is making a strong case that he deserves one of the final two spots available in the Angels bullpen this season. In his latest outing, Monday in a "B" squad game with the Colorado Rockies, Thompson set the side down in order on three ground balls and has yet to give up a run in five spring appearances. "We see what he's done. We see the progress from where he was even two years ago to where he is now," said Manager Mike Scioscia , who will make the call on whether Thompson stays or goes.

While acknowledging that Trevor Bell "had kind of a clunker in Toronto," Mike Scioscia isn't ready to trade in the 22-year-old for another fifth starter. The Angels manager said Monday that Bell would start again Friday against Oakland, with Matt Palmer likely to assume the No. 5 spot in the rotation if Bell continues to struggle. Bell was hammered for six runs in only 1 2/3 innings Sunday against Toronto and is 1-1 with a 9.49 earned-run average in three starts. "We have a lot confidence he'll bounce back and give us a good game," said Scioscia, who will need seven more starts from a fifth starter over the season's final six weeks.

Royals 4, Angels 3 Mariners 10, Angels 5 AT THE PLATE: Against Kansas City, Erick Aybar, Alberto Callaspo and Tyson Auer had two hits each while Mark Trumbo scored his sixth run in his last four games. Peter Bourjos had three hits in the split-squad loss to Seattle while catcher Kevin Richardson homered. ON THE MOUND: Joel Pineiro was so efficient in his four-inning outing against the Royals he went to the bullpen afterward to throw 10 more pitches, bringing his total for the day to 60. Unfortunately things didn't go as smoothly for 7-foot-1 reliever Loek Van Mil, who allowed two runs on a hit and two walks while getting just an out in his Angels debut.

Rockies 8, Angels 1 AT THE PLATE: Bobby Wilson continued his sensational spring, going two for three to raise his average to .429. He also drove in the Angels' only run, beating out an infield hit to score Mark Trumbo. ON THE MOUND: Scott Kazmir had an eventful 65-pitch outing in which he gave up everything but an earned run, allowed five hits and four walks, committed an error and made a wild pitch. Relievers Kevin Jepsen, Jordan Walden and Jason Bulger followed, combining for three scoreless innings in which they gave up two hits.