TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -Gary Matthews Jr. wants to play every day. His performance this spring should only help.

Matthews hit a long home run off starter Cha Seung Baek and went 2-for-3 on Tuesday, boosting his batting average to .412 in the Los Angeles Angels' 10-5 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Advertisement

Entering the third season of a $50 million, five-year contract, Matthews is trying to secure playing time in the Angels' crowded outfield. He figured to be the odd man out after the team signed free agent Bobby Abreu in the offseason.

Matthews is coming off a sub-par season in which he hit .242 with eight homers and 46 RBIs in 426 at_bats. He delayed left knee surgery until October, and the prognosis then was that he wouldn't be ready to start the season.

He sure looks healthy now, though.

``I wasn't supposed to be ready until mid-May or May or something like that,' Matthews said. ``I said when I came in that if they would let me be ready that I thought I'd be ready. You don't know until you get out there to see how your knee is going to react day to day. It's fine and I'm ready to go back to playing every day.'

But is there room?

The acquisition of Abreu followed the addition of center fielder Torii Hunter before last season, which pushed Matthews to right. It also marked the Angels' second high-profile outfield signing after Matthews joined the team following the 2006 season, when he hit .313 with 19 homers and 79 RBIs for Texas.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia has Hunter flanked by Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero, adding that Abreu would shift to right field when Guerrero is the designated hitter. Scioscia also has Juan Rivera as a left fielder and a DH, with Kendry Morales slated for first base.

``We've got a lot of bats here and we'll address things at the proper time,' Scioscia said. ``I don't think anything's changed from what we talked about earlier. Gary needs to get healthy and play to his potential and that's where we are right now.

``Gary really struggled last year. I think a lot of things point to the fact that it could have been his knee. The knee felt good coming into spring. He wasn't able to maintain that. I sure hope it was just that physical thing that caused his nonperformance last year.'

Matthews was asked if he felt as though he was auditioning for a job with another team.

``Aren't we all auditioning for a job?' he said. ``I'm probably no different than anyone else.'

But he doesn't want to wait.

``I'm 34, so it's not like I'm 24 and I have time to sit around and waste years,' he said. ``It's not what I'm going to do. I'm an everyday player. The team wanted to see that I was healthy and know that (the knee) was going to hold up. I've said that it's going to be fine.

``We have conversations behind closed doors. They know my feelings about playing every day. They've been honest with me and I've been honest with them.

``Mike and I are not afraid to close the door and have it out. That's the way it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be an open-door policy.'

Scioscia added: ``Gary wants to play. We had candid conversations with him when Juan was inserted into the lineup. We've both been up front and that's the way it will continue to be.'

``We want to see Gary healthy and get into his game and he's showing us that. We'll take things one step at a time. ... He wants the playing time that he lost last year from not playing well. We're not going to make that decision today.'

Baek, slated to be the No. 3 pitcher in the Padres' rotation, allowed nine earned runs in 4 2-3 innings, upping his ERA to 9.95.

He threw two shutout innings at the start but was unable to hold a 4-0 lead that San Diego built against left-hander Joe Saunders.

``I thought he threw the ball well at times,' Padres manager Bud Black said. ``The first two innings, I thought they were outstanding. He worked fast and hit his spots. He made some good hitters look bad.

``And then he had some lapses. I think you saw some walks against hitters that you shouldn't walk. He got some balls up in the strike zone.'

Baek walked three and gave up a homer to Maicer Izturis, his first. Erick Aybar also homered for the Angels, his second. Adrian Gonzalez hit his first Cactus League homer for the Padres.

Saunders, an All-Star last season, allowed four earned runs and six hits over six innings, his longest and rockiest start of the spring. His ERA rose to 3.46.

``It was a positive outing for me,' he said. ``It was the first time I threw 80 pitches and I felt great. I had command of my two-seamer, finally.'