Jered Weaver sharp, Jeff Mathis hits two home runs in Class-A game

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Jered Weaver breezed through Monday’s start against Arizona’s Class-A team, allowing three runs and five hits, striking out 11 and walking none in 7 1/3 innings. The right-hander, who is expected to start opening day for the Angels, threw 87 pitches.

Weaver was scheduled to start Monday’s Cactus League game against the Chicago Cubs, but the Angels, fearing the game would be rained out, switched Weaver to an earlier minor league game. Jeff Mathis caught the Angels ace and also had three hits, two of them homers.

‘The wind was blowing,’ Mathis said. ‘I fisted one of them out.’

Weaver gave up his first run on a triple and a single and gave up a two-run home run in the fourth inning. He faced one extra batter after the sixth inning in order to get his pitch count up.

‘Everything felt good,’ Weaver said. ‘Those guys like to swing it down there. I was trying to throw first-pitch strikes, and then I started mixing in some off-speed stuff later. It’s a step in the right direction. It’s a totally different game down there. You can’t set guys up, so I just tried to work on location, let them hit the ball, and hopefully they hit it at someone.’

Weaver will probably dial back to 70-75 pitches in his last spring game on Saturday. He is in line to start the March 31 season opener in Kansas City, Mo., but Manager Mike Scioscia still hasn’t officially announced who will pitch that day.

‘I’m not very good at math,’ Weaver said. ‘And you know how [Scioscia] likes to do it.’

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-- Mike DiGiovanna in Tempe, Ariz.