Ortiz’s Five Innings Give Angels a Look at a Promising Future : Baseball: Striking out Canseco twice, the right-hander provides a hint of what may come in 7-5 win over Tampa Bay.

Not since Jim Abbott, more than a decade ago, has an Angel pitcher been this young, this charismatic, with this kind of long-term potential.

Ramon Ortiz, the wiry right-hander with the curious hobby of catching and releasing birds with nothing more than his bare hands and bald guile, began the season in double A and will end it smack in the middle of next season’s most optimistic plans.

After a handful of so-so starts, Ortiz was closer to dynamic Tuesday night at Edison Field, where he pitched five promising innings and the Angels defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-5.

The victory, the first for Ortiz (2-3) since his major league debut Aug. 19 in Chicago, was also fueled by seven two-out runs by the Angels, two on Gary DiSarcina’s first home run in 15 months.

While his signature fastball was crisp, Ortiz had a devastating changeup that twice helped to strike out Jose Canseco at the game’s most critical junctures. One of the few bright personalities in a clubhouse that seems to mourn every new day at work, Ortiz gave up four hits--three singles and an opposite-field double--and three runs. He walked four batters.

Of the walks, two scored, just the kind of thing the Angels asked Ortiz to avoid. But, this is September, this is not a playoff race, and so Ortiz will learn valuable lessons and gain important arm strength in a six-week period that might not have come otherwise.

“I want to see more consistency within the strike zone,” interim manager Joe Maddon said in the hours before Ortiz’s start. “I’d like to see him utilize all of his pitches. Those would be the two main requirements.”

A lot of innings have passed since Ortiz reported for the instructional league last fall, with only a few short breaks. The organization figures his arm is fatigued, which is why Maddon took the ball away in the sixth inning, after 83 pitches.

“The guy,” Maddon said, “has worked a lot.”

In the first inning, Ortiz walked leadoff hitter Miguel Cairo on four pitches, then threw three balls to Dave Martinez before strike one brought a sarcastic cheer from a crowd that otherwise seemed only mildly interested.

Martinez lined the next pitch into right-center field. Cairo, who had advanced to second base on a wild pitch during Ortiz’s first hectic moments, scored unchallenged.

What happened next, however, might have altered the course of Ortiz’s seventh big league start. Faced with the bulk of Canseco and the potential for a very fast, very large deficit, Ortiz became a very good pitcher.

He threw a changeup that Canseco swung over. He threw a fastball that Canseco fouled off of the bat handle. He threw a changeup away that Canseco missed. Just like that, the hard and heavy strikes flowed from Ortiz’s willowy frame. Fred McGriff flied out and Herbert Perry grounded out and the Devil Rays’ inning faded when it appeared to be getting started.

After Martinez’s single, Ortiz retired the next 13 Devil Rays, until Jose Guillen singled with one out in the fifth inning. He struck out Canseco again to end the fifth, with two runners on and the Angel lead cut to 4-3.