Olivares, Angels Leave Rangers Frustrated, 10-0

Omar Olivares has left a trail of frustrated managers from St. Louis to Detroit to Seattle and to Anaheim, and if you’re looking for a reason, look no further than his performance Saturday night.

The right-hander with a history of control problems and a knack for giving up untimely hits threw a phenomenal game, shutting down the Texas Rangers on three hits and walking one in 7 1/3 innings to lead the Angels to a convincing, 10-0 victory in front of 37,974 at the Ballpark in Arlington.

So it’s only natural for managers to think that if this sinker-ball specialist has the potential to pitch this well, why can’t he do it more often?

“I know I’ve walked a lot of guys in the past, and I know managers don’t like it,” said Olivares, who entered the season with 502 career walks and 642 strikeouts in 1,168 innings. “But I try not to think about it.”

Backed by a 19-hit attack, which included Garret Anderson’s four hits and three runs batted in and Randy Velarde’s four hits and two RBIs, Olivares pitched aggressively and with confidence, getting ahead of hitters instead of nibbling around the plate. Of his 97 pitches, 59 were strikes.

“He’s had good stuff forever, and years ago this guy threw 96 mph,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “I don’t know what his experience has been with other teams, but I know once he got into our rotation, he’s thrown some good games.”

Olivares went back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen in 1998, but he wound up being one of the Angels’ most effective starters, going 9-9 with a 4.03 earned-run average.

Collins is confident the top three pitchers in his rotation, Chuck Finley, Ken Hill and Tim Belcher, will have good seasons. If Steve Sparks and Olivares have big years. . .

“It’s going to make a big difference,” Collins said. “You’ve got to have at least one surprise. I’m not saying Omar has to win 20 games, but if he pitches like this consistently, it’s going to mean a lot.”

It wouldn’t hurt for the Angels to swing the bats like they have the last two nights. With shortstop Gary DiSarcina out until at least the All-Star break and first baseman Mo Vaughn and center fielder Jim Edmonds on the disabled list, Collins hoped the Angels could “keep their heads above water” until his All-Star players return.

The way the Angels are hitting--they pounded the Rangers for 18 runs and 31 hits in the first two games of a four-game series--they must feel like they could walk on water.

The Angels hit the Rangers with a one-two punch Saturday, their perfectly symmetrical offense alternating between one and two runs for the first six innings.

But unlike the haymakers the Angels landed Friday night, when they had three homers and five doubles in an 8-4 victory, they went to the jab Saturday, peppering four Ranger pitchers for 17 singles.

Every Angel starter had at least one hit, and everyone but Todd Greene scored at least a run. Texas starter Rick Helling, the erstwhile 20-game winner, bore the brunt of the punishment, giving up six runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.

“We’re always talking about what we don’t have instead of the guys we can run on the field every day,” Anderson said. “Up and down our lineup, we have good hitters who can do a lot of things.

“No one’s thinking about losing Mo and Jim and Gary. They’re gone. What can you do? If you sit around and cry about it, you’ll be 2-20.”

Darin Erstad said the Angels would need to manufacture runs in the wake of the power void left by Vaughn and Edmonds, and they did that early, scoring their first two runs on double plays, their third on Orlando Palmeiro’s bunt single and their fourth on Anderson’s sacrifice fly.

But there were plenty of hard-hit balls, including Velarde’s two-run single in the fourth, the second hit of a four-hit night that raised Velarde’s average to .429 after five games.

“I’m hitting the ball good and I’ve got to take advantage of it, because you know how this game is,” said Velarde, who missed all of 1997 and most of 1998 because of elbow surgery. “You never own this game, you just rent it.

“Right now it’s going for a good price, and I’m going to take advantage of it.”