LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers manager Joe Torre admittedly didn't know much about his players' abilities when he took the job.
Now he knows what to expect, especially from Andre Ethier -- which is why Torre made him his starting right fielder.
Ethier hit a solo home run and RBI triple, Casey Blake hit a two-run shot, and the Dodgers beat the Angels 6-2 on Thursday night as the division champions of the NL West and AL West squared off at Chavez Ravine.
"Ethier is a pure hitter," Torre said. "Last year, he had some transitional things going on with being a regular and then not being a regular. Now he's come into spring training as regular again. He's still going to fight himself probably more than you want him to, but this kid is a pure hitter and I'm very pleased with how he's progressed."
The same could be said for the rest of the Dodgers' young nucleus -- first baseman James Loney, center fielder Matt Kemp and two-time All-Star catcher Russell Martin.
"You expect more from everybody, really," Torre said. "I know Russell can do a better job than he did last year and become more of the player he was in the year previous to that -- which I didn't know about because I wasn't here. I think Loney is poised to have a huge year offensively. Matt Kemp, there's so much in there. He's very coachable in this point in time. When he's going to reach that next level, I can't tell you. But hopefully, he'll take some steps this year."
Dodgers left-hander Randy Wolf threw 51 pitches in three innings, allowing an unearned run and four hits and striking out three. He finished his spring slate 4-2 with a 4.24 ERA in seven outings.
Wolf, returning to the Dodgers as a free agent after spending last year with San Diego and Houston, is scheduled to make his season debut next Tuesday against the Padres.
"I don't think we know about our pitching," Torre said.
Manny Ramirez had an RBI single in the fifth inning against reliever Jose Arredondo after walking his first two times up against Dustin Moseley.
Moseley threw 80 pitches in four innings and allowed three runs on four hits, concluding his preseason log 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA. The right-hander will begin the season in the Angels' rotation because of injuries to Ervin Santana, Kelvim Escobar and staff ace John Lackey.
"As a major league manager, the last thing you think about before you fall asleep and the first thing you think about when you wake up is your starting rotation. And this spring has certainly been a challenge," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We have three guys who are not going to start the season with us, so right now our depth has been stretched to a limit that we're a little uncomfortable with. But we still have some good arms, and that's what we're going to focus on."
Blake drove a 3-2 pitch to left-center with two outs in the second inning to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. The Angels got on the board in the third on Vladimir Guerrero's RBI single, but the Dodgers got the run back in the bottom half when Ramirez drew a two-out walk and Ethier tripled into the right field corner.
Matt Kemp doubled home a run in the eighth against David Herndon, three batters after Ethier connected off the non-roster invitee.
Three-time Gold Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson, who signed a one-year, $3.38 million contract with the Dodgers in February after an injury-shortened season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, made a great first impression with the Dodger Stadium crowd when he turned Bobby Abreu's bad-hop grounder into an inning-ending double play in the first inning.
"There's no question our defense should be much tighter than it's been -- not only with Hudson, but having Rafael Furcal for the whole year and having Casey Blake at third base for the whole year," Torre said. "But we have to understand that in order for that to do us any good, we've got to get our pitchers to throw ground balls. That would be ideal."
Notes
When Hiroki Kuroda makes his season debut on Monday, he will become the third different Japanese-born pitcher to start for a major league team on opening day, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Hideo Nomo did it for Detroit in 2000, and for the Dodgers in 2003 and 2004. Daisuke Matsuzaka was Boston's opening day starter last season. ... This is the second time the Angels and Dodgers will go into a season as defending champions of their respective divisions. They both finished first in 2004 as well.
