Angels ready to get it started
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The rain that had long been forecast starting falling gently just after the Angels took the field at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium for pregame warmups ahead of Thursday afternoon’s season opener with the Royals. But that did little to dampen the opening-day excitement of Angels Manager Mike Scioscia and his players -- and it figures to have little effect on the game.
‘It’s a playoff atmosphere,’ said catcher Bobby Wilson, on an opening day roster for the second time in his career. ‘Everybody’s in first place on opening day. The big American flag in center field. The flyover. The goosebumps when that plane goes over. The first pitch of the season. It’s awesome. There’s nothing like it.’
‘We’re definitely excited and ready to get after it,’ said Scioscia, who is managing a team with an opening-day payroll of more than $138 million, by far the highest in franchise history. ‘We feel good about where we are. We know we have some growth in this team. And hopefully we’re going to continue to improve in the short term.’
The Angels have won six of their last seven opening-day games while right-hander Jered Weaver, making his third opening-day start and second in as many seasons, is 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA in openers. The Royals, meanwhile, are coming off baseball’s best spring, having gone 20-10-1 in the exhibition season. In addition, Kansas City has never lost a regular-season game played in March.
The lineups
Angels
3B -- Maicer Izturis
2B -- Howie Kendrick
DH -- Bobby Abreu
RF -- Torii Hunter
LF -- Vernon Wells
SS -- Erick Aybar
1B -- Mark Trumbo
C -- Jeff Mathis
CF -- Peter Bourjos
P -- Jered Weaver
Kansas City Royals
3B -- Mike Aviles
CF -- Melky Cabrera
LF -- Alex Gordon
DH -- Billy Butler
1B -- Kila Ka’aihue
RF -- Jeff Francoeur
SS -- Alcides Escobar
C -- Matt Treanor
2B -- Chris Getz
P -- Luke Hochevar
-- Kevin Baxter in Kansas City
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