Victory is worth the wait for reliever

Chris Bootcheck was sure when he walked off the Yankee Stadium mound with a 4-1 lead after six innings of a July 31, 2005, game that he had secured his first major league victory.

Recalled from triple A for the game, Bootcheck had thoroughly out-pitched Randy Johnson that day, limiting the Yankees to one run and five hits, striking out three and walking one in six innings, while the Yankees left-hander was cuffed around for six runs in 7 1/3 innings.

Bootcheck had thrown only 79 pitches, but Manager Mike Scioscia pulled the starter in favor of Esteban Yan, who combined with Brendan Donnelly and Scot Shields to blow a four-run lead.

First baseman Darin Erstad committed a rare error, which keyed the Yankees’ eighth-inning rally. Sure-handed shortstop Orlando Cabrera, with the Angels one out from victory, couldn’t handle Gary Sheffield’s bad-hop grounder in the 10th, enabling the Yankees to score the tying run, and Tony Womack’s run-scoring single in the 11th against reliever Kevin Gregg gave the Yankees an 8-7 victory.

Two seasons later, Bootcheck retired the side in order in the ninth inning Sunday, which seemed to assure only that the Angels would lose to the Baltimore Orioles by one run.

Then Vladimir Guerrero hit a dramatic two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 4-3 win, and suddenly Bootcheck, well into his seventh professional season, had his first major league victory.

“It’s just funny how things work out in this game,” said Bootcheck, a first-round pick by the Angels in 2000. “For sure, I’ll always remember this one.”

As the team’s long reliever, Bootcheck, 28, rarely pitches when the Angels have the lead, but as he showed Sunday, it’s just as important to pitch well when you’re behind. The Angels also got a key one-two-three inning from struggling left-hander Darren Oliver in the eighth to keep the game close.

“Whether we’re trailing or ahead, any outs you can get are important,” Bootcheck said. “Today was a good example. Down by a run, we find a way to scrap and put two runs on and win the game.”

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After giving up one run and two hits, striking out two and walking one in 1 2/3 innings of a Class-A game Saturday, reliever Justin Speier, out since April 30 because of an intestinal infection, decided not to pitch for Rancho Cucamonga, as scheduled, on Sunday. Scioscia said Speier could pitch tonight.... With the Angels nearing the end of a stretch in which they’ll play on 16 consecutive days, Scioscia gave Cabrera, who started all but one of the team’s first 57 games, Sunday off. Casey Kotchman, who had started 10 of the previous 11 games, didn’t start Sunday but delivered a key pinch-hit double in the eighth.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com