• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Twins-Angels Preview

Apr 8, 2010 - 6:43 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Minnesota (2-1) at Los Angeles (1-2), 10:05 p.m. EDT

The Los Angeles Angels signed Joel Pineiro to take over the rotation spot that had been held by John Lackey since 2002.

That's not the only position that will have a different look in their next game.

Pineiro makes his Angels debut while Hideki Matsui will start in left field for the first time in almost two years when the Angels look to split a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

Los Angeles (1-2) lost Lackey, who won 102 games over eight seasons, to free agency in the offseason, but it believes it has a capable replacement in Pineiro, who spent the last two-plus seasons with the Cardinals after beginning his career in the AL with Seattle and Boston.

Pineiro went 15-12 with a 3.49 ERA last season with St. Louis and had a solid spring with the Angels, going 4-0 with a 4.38 ERA in six starts.

The right-hander will try to get Los Angeles back on track after dropping two straight to the Twins (2-1) following a series-opening win. However, he is 2-6 with a 4.32 ERA against Minnesota, including a loss last season.

One of the keys will be trying to find a way to quiet Justin Morneau and J.J. Hardy, who each homered for the second straight game in Minnesota's 4-2 win Wednesday. Hardy, who batted a career-low .229 last season with Milwaukee, is 4 for 12 in the first three games.

"Once the season was over, I just spent the entire offseason forgetting about last year," Hardy said. "My swing's getting to where I want it to be. It's pretty close, but it's definitely better now than at any point last year."

Morneau is 6 for 14 with three home runs off Pineiro while Joe Mauer is 13 for 18 with four doubles and a triple.

The Angels lost Wednesday despite getting three hits from Matsui, who had two hits, including a home run in the season opener. On Thursday, Matsui, who replaced Vladimir Guerrero at DH, will play in the outfield for the first time since June 15, 2008, when he was in left field against Houston.

The World Series MVP wanted more of a complete role with the Angels after being limited by knee troubles with the Yankees.

"I feel like it has a positive effect, staying on the field all the time and playing defense," Matsui told the Angels' official Web site. "I believe strongly that when you're on the field all the time, you're always in the game - as opposed to DHing."

Matsui and the Angels will try to avoid a three-game losing streak when they oppose Kevin Slowey, who is looking to rebound after being limited to 16 starts because of a right wrist injury that eventually led to surgery to fix a bone chip. Slowey was 10-3 with a 4.86 ERA before the injury.

"The only thing we were worried about with Kevin is that he's healthy, and he's healthy," manager Ron Gardenhire told the Twins' official Web site. "He's feeling good. His arm feels good, his wrist is good. ... We're happy with where he's at. Not surprised, just happy."

Slowey is 2-1 with a 4.57 ERA against the Angels, beating them with seven strong innings April 18 in his lone matchup last season.

Bobby Abreu is 4 for 10 with a double and a home run off Slowey.