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Hernandez HR in 9th leaves Dodgers, Angels in 6-6 tie

LOS ANGELES (AP) Kike Hernandez led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run to center field against Ryan Mattheus, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-6 tie with the Los Angeles Angels in the final game of spring training Saturday night.

The finale of the three-game Freeway Series was called after nine innings, and Hernandez was then optioned to Triple-A after hitting .267 with six homers and 12 RBIs this spring.

''His spring for me was kind of a tale of two stories,'' Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. ''He started off a little bit slow, but then it just all of a sudden clicked for him. The fact that he was playing all over the diamond and in center field is what makes him so valuable. Kike showed us that he can really play. And I think before the year is over, you're going to see a lot of Kike and see his value.''

Scott Van Slyke also homered for the Dodgers, and Brett Anderson pitched three innings in a tuneup for his first regular-season start Friday at Arizona. He allowed two runs and seven hits.

''My stuff was terrible - borderline embarrassing. But physically, I felt fine,'' Anderson said. ''My breaking ball was terrible and my command wasn't very good, but it happens. I'm just happy to be healthy, and I know my stuff will be there when I need it to be.''

Angels starter Hector Santiago threw 75 pitches over 4 1-3 innings and was charged with five runs and five hits. He finished the spring 1-0 with a 3.37 ERA in five starts.

The left-hander is scheduled to pitch Friday night in the Angels' home opener against the defending AL champion Kansas City Royals.

David Huff came in to get the last two outs in the Angels' sixth, striking out pinch-hitter Matt Joyce looking with the bases loaded after three one-out walks by Josh Ravin. But the Angels grabbed the lead one inning later against Huff with Roberto Baldoquin's RBI single, Collin Cowgill's run-scoring double and Johnny Giavotella's RBI single.

In addition to Hernandez, the Dodgers also optioned outfielder Chris Heisey and left-hander Adam Liberatore to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Huff and fellow pitchers David Aardsma and Sergio Santos were reassigned to minor league camp.

''As we were kind of struggling with the decisions and having the debate, we talked about what a good problem it was to have,'' said Andrew Friedman, the team's president of baseball operations. ''We feel very strongly that we sent down some major league players, and the sign of a good team is to be able to have the depth to do that.''

MORE ROSTER MOVES

The Angels optioned catcher Carlos Perez and outfielder Daniel Robertson to Triple-A Salt Lake, and reassigned Mattheus to minor league camp. Left fielder Josh Hamilton (right shoulder surgery), right-hander Garrett Richards (left knee surgery), lefty Tyler Skaggs (left elbow surgery) and righty Cory Rasmus (left abdominal surgery) were placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 27.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

A sidebar to the Dodgers' season opener Monday against the Padres in Los Angeles will be the first head-to-head confrontation between Clayton Kershaw and slugger Matt Kemp, who were teammates for seven seasons before Kemp was traded to San Diego on Dec. 18. They did not face each other in spring training.

''I've seen him hit all these years. But honestly, I have no idea how to get him out yet,'' Kershaw said. ''So I actually have to do some homework there.''

DISNEYLAND DETOUR

Dodgers prospect Dillon Moyer got his first taste of the home clubhouse at Chavez Ravine before going back to the minors. He is the son of longtime major league pitcher Jamie Moyer, who drove up to Anaheim from his San Diego home with four of his five daughters for the first two games of the Freeway Series - and got stuck on Disneyland's California Screamin' ride with three of them Friday afternoon.

''I was at the ballpark when they were stuck on the ride,'' Dillon Moyer said. ''I spoke to my dad this morning and he said that he was pretty scared up there, just being stuck like 80 feet above the ground. But they had fun. They didn't go back to the park today. They went to the pool instead, so maybe that's a good indication that they won't go back there.''

UP NEXT

Angels: Season opener Monday in Seattle, with Jered Weaver matched up against Felix Hernandez.

Dodgers: Season opener Monday against San Diego, with Kershaw opposing James Shields.