Amy Voorhees

Nick Adenhart was killed in a hit-and-run car accident early Thursday morning — just hours after pitching six shutout innings against the Oakland A's Cops say someone driving a minivan blew through a red light and hit the Mitsubishi that Adenhart was riding in. Three people were killed in the crash, including Nick.

Cops say the person driving the van fled the scene -- but was later caught and charged with felony hit-and-run. We're told one of the other men killed in the crash was also affiliated with the Angels organization. We're told one of the other men killed in the crash was also affiliated with the Angels organization.

Adenhart was born in Silver Springs, Maryland on August 24, 1986. The right-handed pitcher graduated from Williamsport High School in Maryland and made his major league debut on May 1, 2008. Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhart was among the three killed in a crash in Fullerton when a driver ran a red light, an associate of the rookie player said this morning. The crash occurred only hours after the 22-year-old appeared in Wednesday night's Angels game.

Nick Adenhart

Nick Adenhart took the mound for his big-league debut at age 21 last May — and those were just his own expectations. Adenhart failed badly in a three-start big-league baptism. From all appearances, he has learned from that experience and takes the mound tonight against the Oakland A’s as an older and wiser pitcher. “His command is totally different,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said before tonight’s game. “His stuff is the same but he’s able to locate it and put pitches together which he wasn’t able to do last year.

“Last year was a struggle for him, getting back into counts and putting hitters away — all the things that pitching’s about.” As for the expectations, Scioscia said they are no different for Adenhart than they are for any other Angels starter. “What we want from Nick is the same thing we saw in spring training — no more, no less,” Scioscia said. “He has enough pitches to get deep into games and give us a chance to win, just the way we saw Joe (Saunders) pitch the other day.

Well, it was a reverse curse as Nick Adenhart, 7th on the team's starting pitcher depth chart, threw a 5 strikeout 6 inning gem, getting out of jam after frustrating jam with a knee buckling curveball and a well-masked changeup. After a scoreless 7th inning by middle reliever Jose Arredondo, manager Mike Scioscia broke with his usual game plan and left Arredondo in.