Colon Expects to Start

Bartolo Colon spent only a few minutes playing catch off flat ground Friday afternoon, but that brief workout, combined with a number of tests conducted by the team’s training staff, was enough to convince the Angels that their ace can make today’s start against the White Sox.

Colon suffered a lower-back injury on Aug. 30, when the burly right-hander threw 9 1/3 innings against Oakland, and he was pulled from last Sunday’s game against Seattle in the sixth inning because of tightness and lower-back spasms.

A leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Award, Colon complained of pain -- and not tightness -- in his lower back Wednesday in Boston, and it appeared he would be doubtful for today’s game.

“But compared to three or four days ago, it’s like night and day,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He did a lot of exercises to test his range of motion, his flexibility and the stiffness. He felt good, and he passed everything.

“He wants to start, and he’s ready to start. ... His confidence gives us the confidence he’ll be ready to go.”

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Three weeks ago, there was speculation Adam Kennedy would challenge for the AL batting title if the No. 9 hitter, who sat out the first month of the season while recovering from knee surgery, could get enough at-bats to qualify. But since Aug. 15, when his average was .337, the Angel second baseman has gone nine for 64 (.141) with one run batted in and six runs, his average falling to .301.

“I just haven’t been hitting the ball hard,” Kennedy said. “I’m not really giving myself a chance. They’re pitching me tough, and I’m not laying off tough pitches. I’m not making them put the ball in the hitting zone, and these pitchers are too good to expand the zone against.”

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This might surprise Manny Ramirez and Edgar Renteria, but the perfectly placed, sidearm tailing fastballs the Red Sox players took for strike three in the eighth inning Thursday night -- Ramirez with two on and Renteria with the bases loaded -- were more the result of good fortune than Scot Shields’ pinpoint control.

“To be honest with you, I have absolutely no clue where those pitches are going,” said the Angel reliever, who also struck out David Ortiz with the bases loaded to help preserve the Angels’ 3-0 victory over Boston.

With Shields struggling to control his hard slider, he has been leaning on his fastball, changeup and a sidearm fastball he’ll throw off the plate to right-handers in hopes the ball will tail back over the outside corner.

“I’ve always had it, but I had gotten away from using it for a while,” he said.

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Former Angel prospect Bobby Jenks didn’t know the Angels chose not to protect him on their 40-man roster last December until the day the White Sox claimed him, and the hard-throwing reliever hasn’t spoken to General Manager Bill Stoneman or Scioscia since.

Jenks, who has emerged as one of Chicago’s primary setup men after sitting out most of 2004 because of elbow surgery and threw three scoreless innings Friday night, says he doesn’t have much disdain for the team that let him go for nothing.

“I hold no grudges,” he said Friday. “I don’t want to go out there thinking I have to dominate to prove [the Angels] made a mistake. ... I’m not the first guy to get let go and get picked up by another team.”