SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Last year at this time, Nick Adenhart might have been more than somewhat upset by a couple of bad breaks that cost him four earned runs.

A more mature Adenhart, having discovered the downside of getting wound a little too tight, realizes it's best to let these things go and move on to the next challenge.

So it happened at Scottsdale Stadium on Tuesday that a Bengie Molina fly ball that Adenhart's teammates were sure was foul was ruled a two-run, first-inning double. Later, Adenhart having gained his rhythm and feel, a strikeout on a biting curveball leading off the fourth inning became a wild pitch sending Nate Schierholtz to first base, igniting a two-run inning for the Giants.

Adenhart, bidding for one of two open spots in the Angels' rotation, departed having given up four earned runs on four hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings, striking out two hitters.

"Nice, smooth delivery, good stuff," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said when asked to evaluate Adenhart following the Angels' 8-5 win. "That's impressive. I like him a lot."

Another former Major League catcher, Angels manager Mike Scioscia, sees Adenhart regularly and agrees with Bochy's assessment of the young right-hander's skills.

"Nick had good stuff," Scioscia said. "One problem he had was putting guys away. He had some counts go long. He was not as sharp as we've seen, but he had good stuff."

Shane Loux, also in contention for a starter's role, pitched into the seventh, yielding one earned run (his first of the spring) in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out the last three hitters he faced after Jesus Guzman's leadoff double in the seventh.

"Shane did a great job with a guy on second base and nobody out," Scioscia said. "One thing with Shane is putting guys away. He showed he could do that. He has a little deeper slider he's throwing with a flatter cutter. He had a good changeup and heavy sink today. That's what we want from him."

Adenhart, who experienced three disappointing starts for the Angels last season at age 22, in two previous Cactus League outings had yielded one earned run across five innings.

"After what I went through last year," Adenhart said, "I'm trying to stay within myself game to game, pitch by pitch.

"Last year when I got called up, I was like, 'This is it.' I realized it was a dream come true, something I'd wanted since I was a kid.

"I wanted to throw a shutout the first couple times. I set my expectations high."

When he fell considerably short, surrendering a total of 12 earned runs across 12 innings of three starts, Adenhart took his disappointment back to Triple-A Salt Lake and let it chip away at him internally.

"I struggled last year," he said. "When I regained my confidence at the end of the year, I realized I couldn't worry about what happened after the ball left my hand.

"I'm trying to relax and have fun."

Adenhart's big curveball is complemented by a fastball consistently in the 91-94 mph range and a changeup that might be his best, most consistent delivery.

"It was all right," he said, asked about the life on his fastball. "I threw some good fastballs, curves, changeups. I could have been a little more consistent."

He also could have been a little luckier. Molina's fly ball on a hanging hook fell down the left-field line -- it did appear foul -- to cash in Eugenio Velez, who'd singled leading off, and Rich Aurilia, who'd walked.

Adenhart settled in and retired the next seven hitters before Aurilia doubled with two outs in the third and was stranded.

Having struck out on the big breaker that eluded catcher Jeff Mathis leading off the fourth, Schierholtz was doubled home on a shot to right-center by Juan Uribe, the hardest-hit ball of the day against Adenhart. After an infield out ended Adenhart's day, Kevin Frandsen's single scored Uribe.

The top of the Angels' order had a productive day. Chone Figgins, hitting .367, singled, doubled, stole two bases and scored twice. Howie Kendrick, batting .455, singled and doubled, driving in two runs, and Gary Matthews Jr. had an infield hit and a walk.

Torii Hunter, batting fourth, smacked a two-run double that was followed by Kendry Morales' RBI double in the first against lefty Jeremy Affeldt. Morales is batting .405.

A bunt single by Reggie Willits preceded doubles by Figgins and Kendrick in the two-run fifth. Catcher Ben Johnson ripped a two-run double in the eighth to give the Angels the lead against Luis Perdomo, whose not-so-excellent adventure included three walks, two wild pitches and two errors while he was getting one out.

Affeldt got the late call after Tim Lincecum, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, came down with bronchitis.

"At first I thought I'd have to hit, and when I heard it was Lincecum, I was like, 'No, no, no,'" Adenhart said. "Then I saw they were using the DH, and I saw he wasn't pitching, and I wanted to hit again."