LOS ANGELES (AP)—The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed infielder Adam
Kennedy(notes) to a one-year contract worth $800,000, bringing the Southern California
native back home where he won a World Series title in 2002 with the Anaheim
Angels.

General manager Ned Colletti said Thursday that Kennedy gives the Dodgers
infield depth and an experienced left-handed hitter. Kennedy can play first,
second and third base.

Kennedy hit .234 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs while playing three
infield positions and appearing in 114 games with Seattle last season.

The 35-year-old infielder played for the Angels from 2000-06. He was the AL
championship series MVP in 2002.

Kennedy is a career .272 hitter with 78 homers and 555 RBIs in 13 major
league seasons with St. Louis, the Angels, Oakland, Washington and Seattle. He
is from Riverside and lives in Orange County during the offseason.

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed infielder Adam Kennedy to a one-year contract worth $800,000, bringing the Southern California native back home where he won a World Series title in 2002 with the Anaheim Angels.

General manager Ned Colletti said Thursday that Kennedy gives the Dodgers infield depth and an experienced left-handed hitter. Kennedy can play first, second and third base.

Kennedy hit .234 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs while playing three infield positions and appearing in 114 games with Seattle last season.

The 35-year-old infielder played for the Angels from 2000-06. He was the AL championship series MVP in 2002.

Kennedy is a career .272 hitter with 78 homers and 555 RBIs in 13 major league seasons with St. Louis, the Angels, Oakland, Washington and Seattle. He is from Riverside and lives in Orange County during the offseason.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES – Former Great Lakes Loon star Dee Gordon made Los Angeles Dodgers history Tuesday for something he did Friday.

A scoring change gave Gordon a steal of third in Friday’s game against the Angels, making Gordon the first Dodger in 83 years to second, third and home in the same inning.

Originally, Gordon was credited with taking third base on a throw to first.

Gordon, who played for the Loons in 2009, was sent back to Triple A Albuquerque on Monday.

mlb.com: Gordon added another historical footnote Tuesday, stealing two bases for Albuquerque, essentially giving him stolen bases in the Major Leagues and Minor Leagues on the same day.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Torii Hunter is thrilled to have spring training in his rearview mirror, and he can’t wait to help the Los Angeles Angels rebound from their first losing season since 2003.

Hunter went 3 for 3 with a homer and four RBIs, Howie Kendrick doubled home a run, and the Angels wrapped up their spring training schedule with a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“I’m glad it’s over with, man. There’s no more time to waste your hits,” Hunter said. “We had a nice long spring, we worked hard and we played pretty good together. Now the bell’s about to ring on Thursday and we’re just excited to get it going.”

The Angels scored 681 runs last season, 202 fewer than the club-record total in 2009, and their .248 team batting average was their lowest since 1992. As a result, they finished 80-82 and the Texas Rangers ended their run of three straight AL West titles.

“Our goal is to try to take it away from them, and I’m pretty optimistic about it,” Hunter said. “Last year was kind of like a slap in the face for everybody. What we went through last year was just not us.

“We struggled and we had injuries. We had six free agents and four of them were key guys, and the chemistry in the clubhouse was tinkered with a little bit. It just didn’t feel right. But this year in spring training, we felt like the camaraderie was there. Vernon Wells fit in right away, so I’m pretty positive going into the season.”

Hunter, who was 15 for 45 this spring with four homers and nine RBIs, had run-scoring singles his first two times up against Hiroki Kuroda and added a two-run homer against lefty Scott Elbert. Last season, the four-time All-Star batted .281 with 23 homers and 90 RBIs.

“If you look at my track record, every year at the end of the season my numbers have been the same. But I don’t look for numbers,” Hunter said. “I will never talk about numbers, man. All I care about is the World Series.”

Scott Kazmir pitched 4 1-3 innings and allowed three hits including a leadoff homer by Rod Barajas. The left-hander, whose season debut is scheduled for Sunday at Kansas City, was 1-2 with a 6.65 ERA in six starts this spring. Last Thursday, he gave eight hits and 10 runs — eight earned — against the Milwaukee Brewers in an 11-8 loss at Tempe, Ariz.

“It was a good tuneup. I felt good out there and threw all of my pitches,” Kazmir said. “I just stayed focused. There’s things that I’m trying to do to progress, and I feel like I’m on track. I felt like all of these starts were really little stepping stones.”

Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda gave up three runs and seven hits over four innings in a tuneup for his debut Sunday against San Francisco. The loss made him 0-3 with a 5.88 ERA in six spring starts.

The Halos completed a two-game sweep of their Freeway Series appetizer. The teams are scheduled for a three-game series June 24-26 at Dodger Stadium and three more July 1-3 at the Big A.

The Angels will open the season Thursday in Kansas City, and their home opener is April 8 against Toronto. New left fielder Vernon Wells will face the team he spent his first 12 big league seasons with before he was traded to the Angels on Jan. 21 for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera.

The Dodgers conclude their exhibition schedule Wednesday night against Seattle at Chavez Ravine before opening their first season under manager Don Mattingly with a nationally televised home game Thursday night against the World Series champion Giants.

“It’s a new year, that’s for sure,” Mattingly said. “To be honest, every club in baseball right now has got a good attitude and feels pretty good about their team and all that stuff. Last year is over and it was a learning experience for the whole team. We went home over the winter and came back with a new outlook. All signs and indications up to this point have shown that.”

Notes: Dodgers head trainer Stan Conte was not with the team, having spent Tuesday in San Francisco testifying in Barry Bonds’ perjury trial. The former Giants slugger is charged with lying to a grand jury when he denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs. Conte, the Giants’ head trainer during seven of his 15 years with them, gave detailed and damaging accounts of Bonds’ daily activities with his personal trainers, Greg Anderson and Harvey Shields — whom Conte had attempted to ban from the clubhouse.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Dodgers and Angels both were 80-82 last season, the first time the Southern California rivals finished with identical records since the Angels opened for business in 1961.

And both have much to atone for once things start for real Thursday.

Top prospect Mike Trout hit a tying RBI single in the ninth and Hank Conger delivered the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, helping the Angels beat the Dodgers 5-4 Monday night in the opener of the preseason Freeway Series and saddling Don Mattingly with a loss in his first game at Dodger Stadium as a big league manager.

Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton, looking for his first save this spring, was charged with a pair of unearned runs in the loss.

Matt Trumbo started the winning rally with a one-out single and Alexei Amarista followed with a potential game-ending double-play grounder toward the middle that went under DeJesus’ glove, putting runners at the corners. Mike Trout followed with a hit-and-run single that drove in Trumbo, and Conger flied out to center after a walk to Andrew Romine, scoring Amarista.

“These kids might be a little nervous out there, but in the last inning it was good to see them do the things they can do,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “There was a great at-bat by Mike Trout, Alexei Amarista made some things happen, and they kept playing baseball.”

Hisanori Takahashi got the win with an inning of two-hit relief and Ryan Brasier got the final two outs for the save. The left-hander has allowed just one earned run this spring in 13 innings.

“I like the fact that he has the confidence to throw any pitch in any count,” Conger said. “That’s what makes him so effective.”

Andre Ethier drove in the Dodgers’ first run with a first-inning double off Ervin Santana. Ethier is in the final season of a two-year, $15.25 million contract that will pay him 9.25 million this season. And the way he’s talking, the Dodgers might have a difficult time re-signing him next winter because of the uncertainty of the team’s payroll and subsequent ownership in the wake of owner Frank McCourt’s divorce from wife Jamie.

“This is my sixth one, and who knows? It might be my last one here with the Dodgers. You never know. A lot of signs are pointing that way, so we’ll have to see,” Ethier said. “Six years for a Dodger is a long time, in the era that we’re living in. So I’m going to cherish every moment I can, enjoy the season and try to make it my best one.”

Santana threw 52 of his 69 pitches for strikes in his sixth and final spring start, allowing two runs and three hits with five strikeouts. He finished his exhibition duties 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA, and will make his season debut is Saturday at Kansas City.

Dodgers left-hander Ted Lilly threw 80 pitches, allowing two runs, four hits and five walks over four innings in his final spring tuneup for his regular-season debut on Saturday against the World Series champion Giants. He struck out four and finished his spring slate 1-1 with a 6.19 ERA in four starts.

Dodgers reserve outfielder Jay Gibbons will be seeing his fourth eye specialist Tuesday in an attempt to correct some blurred vision, which has limited him to 16 at-bats and four hits this spring.

Last December, about a month after the club re-signed him to a one-year contract for the major league minimum of $400,000 and a cost-of-living adjustment, Gibbons underwent PRK surgery on his left eye. He was told it was safer than Lasik surgery, which he had about seven years ago.

“I’m growing less optimistic by the minute,” said Gibbons, who will be fitted for new contact lenses that won’t keep popping out and moving around. “I’m better than 20-20 in each eye. The problem is that they’re not working together, which is throwing me off — balance-wise and depth-wise. So that’s what we’re dealing with. It was an overcorrection from my surgery in December. So I’m nearsighted on one eye and farsighted in the other. So essentially, my vision’s gotten worse after the surgery.”

Notes: Nothing is official yet, but Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley reportedly is close to signing a three-year, $30 million contract extension. He signed a one-year, $6.275-million contract in January, avoiding arbitration.