Orange County Register

Is it possible for a spring training exhibition game to be ‘big?’ There were all the signs of it today at Phoenix Municipal Stadium for the first-ever meeting of the Angels and Dodgers outside California.

Two hours before game time, there were scalpers on the road outside the stadium and tailgaters in the parking lot. The game has been sold out for weeks. So far, the crowd looks to be a pretty even mix of Angel red and Dodger blue.

The lineups:

Angels

3B Chone Figgins

RF Gary Matthews Jr.

LF Garret Anderson

CF Torii Hunter

1B Casey Kotchman

2B Howie Kendrick

C  Mike Napoli

SS Erick Aybar

P Shane Loux (followed by Francisco Rodriguez and Justin Speier)

Loux is a journeyman who made the majors briefly with the Detroit Tigers during their dark ages (2002 and 2003) but was out of baseball last season after being released by the Mariners in the spring.

He is starting because the Angels opted to have Jon Garland make his scheduled start in a Triple-A game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. That way, they can monitor his pitch count more closely than in the DH-less game against the Dodgers.

Also not in the Angels’ lineup is Les Johnson — a spring phenom who came out of nowhere. Literally.

Whether he knows it or not, Les Johnson is the professional alias of Angels’ minor-leaguer Ivan Contreras. When Contreras entered the game in Surprise last night as a pinch-runner, Angels broadcaster Steve Physioc couldn’t find his name on his roster — so he pulled the name Les Johnson out of thin air. Johnson/Contreras went on to score a run against the Rangers, making Physioc’s totally manufactured scouting report on his excellent baserunning skills prophetic.

Word of this got back to Angels manager Mike Scioscia and he tried to slip the name into his pre-game remarks with the media this morning — but he couldn’t keep a straight face.

Injury updates — Vladimir Guerrero didn’t take batting practice with the team today and might need an extra day or two to get over his minor knee problem. Of greater concern, Scot Shields has been shut down due to tightness in his forearm. Shields’ status will be re-evaluated day to day.

The Dodgers’ lineup:

LF Juan Pierre

SS Rafael Furcal

RF Andre Ethier

1B James Loney

CF Andruw Jones

C Russell Martin

3B Blake Dewitt

2B Tony Abreu

P Derek Lowe

– BILL PLUNKETT/The Orange County Register

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