Angels Discover a Pitcher

Patrons at the Scoreboard Sports Bar in Miramiche, New Brunswick, a town of only about 7,000 people, must have had a blast Thursday night.

Every time hometown hero Jason Dickson pitches for the Angels, Dickson’s family members and friends pack the place to watch the game, and they had plenty to hoist their mugs about Thursday.

Dickson, who somehow grew up in this Canadian province playing baseball instead of hockey, threw a complete-game five-hitter with no walks and five strikeouts to lead the Angels to a 2-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox before 17,323 in Anaheim Stadium.

“That guy don’t pitch like a rookie,” said third baseman Dave Hollins, who doubled and scored the Angels’ first run in the seventh inning. “He hasn’t since I’ve been here. His control and his poise are great.”

The victory was Dickson’s first career complete game and shutout and eased the pain of Wednesday night’s gut-wrenching, season-opening loss to the Red Sox, who scored four runs off closer Troy Percival in the top of the ninth for a 6-5 victory.

“After what we went through [Wednesday] night, this shows this team has a tremendous amount of heart and character,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “It shows me that this is going to be a fun team to watch all year long.”

Dickson, who outdueled Boston knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, was the Angels’ most consistent and effective starter all spring, and Collins’ only concern Thursday was that, under the bright lights and cameras of the regular season, the right-hander might try to do more than he was capable of.

“A lot of times young guys, because their adrenaline is pumping, start to overthrow a bit,” Collins said. “One of the things I was most impressed with in Arizona was he never got out of his game. He changed speeds, hit corners, he never got rattled, and he didn’t give in to anyone.”

One of Dickson’s best pitches was an inside fastball that froze Boston slugger Mo Vaughn, who took a called third strike in the first inning. Dickson was so dominant in this 100-pitch, two-hour, seven-minute masterpiece that no Red Sox runner reached second base.

“I established the fastball tonight and worked both sides of the plate well,” Dickson, 24, said. “That helped set up my other pitches. My fastball had a good sink to it, and I felt pretty confident.”

Wakefield was up to the task for six innings, baffling the Angels with his floaters, some of which were so soft you could barely hear them hit the catcher’s mitt. The Angels managed three hits in six innings but finally found their range against Wakefield in the seventh.

Hollins, after fouling off two nasty knucklers, doubled down the left-field line with one out and scored on Garret Anderson’s single through the second-base hole.

The Angels added a run with an eighth-inning rally that Gary DiSarcina started with a single off Wakefield. Red Sox Manager Jimy Williams summoned left-hander Chris Hammond to face Darin Erstad, but the strategy backfired when Erstad doubled to right, advancing DiSarcina to third.

Hammond intentionally walked Luis Alicea to face Jim Edmonds, who lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score DiSarcina for a 2-0 lead.

Dickson got plenty of defensive help from DiSarcina, who made sparkling plays in the sixth and seventh innings to help preserve the shutout.

Bill Haselman opened the sixth with a one-hop smash to the hole, where DiSarcina made a diving, back-hand grab and, from his knees, threw him out. Tim Naehring’s seventh-inning grounder appeared headed for center field when DiSarcina made a lunging grab, made a 360-degree turn and fired to first.

The Angels also turned three double plays. Vaughn was in the on-deck circle when John Valentin grounded into a game-ending double play, which, no doubt, brought fans at The Scoreboard to their feet.

“It’s pretty late back there,” Dickson said, “but I know my dad and all my friends were watching.”