Big Two left big hole in rotation

SEATTLE -- Not that the Angels are feeling sorry for themselves, but with their top two starters, John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar, on the disabled list, they were curious to see how often a team has lost a 19-game winner and an 18-game winner at the same time.

The answer, according to the Elias Sports Bureau? Never.

Since 1900, no team has played its first 30 games of a season without two pitchers who won at least 18 games each the previous year.

Though the Angels feel they have capable replacements in Joe Saunders and Dustin Moseley, the team played .714 baseball (45-18) when Lackey and Escobar started in 2007 and sub-.500 baseball (49-50) when anybody else started.

Lackey is on the road back. The right-hander, out because of a triceps strain, threw 45 pitches in the bullpen Sunday, mixing in curves, sliders and changeups, a workout pitching coach Mike Butcher called “another positive step forward.�

Though Lackey didn’t quite air out his fastball, “I would say he got after it pretty good,� Butcher said. “There’s still more in there, but he wasn’t guarding anything.�

Barring a setback, Lackey could return in early May. Escobar does not appear close to returning.

The right-hander, who was shut down because of a tear in his shoulder in late March, is rehabilitating in Arizona and could pick up a ball “by the end of this week,� Manager Mike Scioscia said. “That’s the time frame we’ve been given, but it’s in pencil.�

If Escobar feels pain after resuming his throwing program, he will probably undergo season-ending surgery.

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Reliever Justin Speier raised eyebrows in the Mariners’ dugout in the seventh inning Sunday when, with a 10-2 lead, he backed Ichiro Suzuki off the plate with a pitch and threw his next pitch behind Seattle’s leadoff batter.

“I’m guessing he was getting me back for Hunter,� Suzuki said through an interpreter, referring to the Carlos Silva pitch that hit Angels center fielder Torii Hunter in the hand Saturday. “That’s what I assume.�

Speier said there was no purpose to the pitch, saying a sore right knee threw his mechanics askew.

“I’ve got a runner on first and a 10-2 lead, I’m not going to hit a guy,� Speier said. “I was just hooking everything today, my slider, my fastball. The knee is part of the reason. It’s like tendinitis. It crops up here and there.�

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Setup man Scot Shields looked sharp Sunday, giving up one hit in a scoreless eighth. Closer Francisco Rodriguez, in his first appearance since leaving Monday’s game because of a sprained right ankle, gave up a run and two hits in the ninth.

Though Rodriguez struggled with his command and his fastball didn’t approach his usual 94-mph range, Scioscia thought the right-hander made progress.

“He looked really strong and showed a live arm,� Scioscia said. “He was driving great to the plate.�

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With Hunter sidelined by a bruised toe, Juan Rivera, who did not play in the previous seven games, started at designated hitter Sunday, singling in the fourth and knocking in a run with a fielder’s choice in the seventh. Hunter hopes to return tonight. . . . Reliever Chris Bootcheck, on the DL because of a rib-cage strain, threw two perfect innings with three strikeouts for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday.

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