Hunter, Matsui hit first homers of spring, Napoli hits fifth; Angels beat Royals 8-6

Angels’ Hunter, Matsui hit first homers of spring

TEMPE, Ariz. — Torii Hunter hit his first two homers of spring, Hideki Matsui connected for the first time and Mike Napoli for his fifth, and the Los Angeles Angels beat a split squad of Kansas City Royals 8-6 on Wednesday using what will likely be their opening day lineup.

“This is a lineup you’ll see at some point in the season,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “This is a lineup we’re excited about. These next eight to 10 days we’ll get a little idea of the continuity in the workings. If we don’t juggle it from here it’s a lineup that makes sense.”

The lineup Wednesday had Erick Aybar batting leadoff hitter and Brandon Wood starting at third base, with Maicer Izturis in a utility role.

The loss of Chone Figgins to Seattle via free agency left the leadoff spot and third base open. Izturis figured to compete with Aybar for the leadoff spot and was a candidate to start at third.

Bobby Abreu hit second followed by Hunter, Matsui, Kendry Morales and Juan Rivera with Howie Kendrick, Napoli and Wood making up the bottom third of the order.

Angels right-hander Joel Pineiro allowed five hits and a walk in five scoreless innings, his fourth spring start.

In his last outing against Milwaukee, Pineiro rebounded from a rough start to allow five hits and two earned runs over four innings.

Royals starter Brian Bannister allowed six hits and five runs over four innings with three walks and two strikeouts.

“I was pretty down on myself because of the way I pitched to Torii,” Bannister said. “I let Torii beat me. I gave him a couple of pitches to hit and, obviously, he

“This was a good test for me. It

In his previous start, Bannister threw four shutout innings and gave up only two hits to Arizona. He went 7-12 with a 4.73 ERA in 26 starts for the Royals in 2009 before was shut down in September with shoulder fatigue.