Angels pitcher Ervin Santana hit hard in triple-A game

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Right-hander Ervin Santana threw five scoreless innings in his first two exhibition games against big league players, but he struggled against triple-A players on Thursday.

While most Angels enjoyed their only off-day of the spring, Santana threw 3 2/3 innings against a San Francisco Giants triple-A team, allowing five earned runs and seven hits, striking out five and walking none.

Santana, who is looking to rebound from a year in which he went 8-8 with a 5.03 earned run average and never seemed to recover from an elbow sprain that was diagnosed last spring, gave up a pair of run-scoring doubles in the third inning and a three-run home run to Joe Borchard in the fourth.

Of Santana’s 63 pitches, 42 were strikes. He was relieved by setup man Fernando Rodney, who retired the side in order in the fifth on so few pitches that Manager Mike Scioscia had him throw to one more batter, who hit a single. Reliever Kevin Jepsen followed Rodney and looked dominant while striking out the side in the sixth.

-- Mike DiGiovanna in Tempe, Ariz.

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