Ortiz Delivers Good News

Ramon Ortiz’s shoulder did not explode Tuesday night. Neither did many of his fastballs, which was fine with the Angels.

Peak velocity can wait for another night. Victory and a greater degree of comfort about the slight tear in Ortiz’s shoulder were gained Tuesday, as the young right-hander threw five encouraging innings in the Angels’ 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays before 15,229 in Edison Field.

Darin Erstad capped a four-run second inning with a three-run homer and Mo Vaughn hit his first homer of the season in the third to pace the Angel offense.

Closer Troy Percival, showing he has rebounded from a little shoulder trouble of his own, struck out the heart of Toronto’s order--Raul Mondesi, Carlos Delgado and Brad Fullmer--with blazing fastballs in the ninth for his second save.

Ortiz, who hit 95 mph with regularity last season, didn’t light up the speed gun like Percival--his fastball hovered in the 91-mph range and did not surpass 93. But he located it well for several innings and mixed in a good slider and changeup to limit the Blue Jays to two runs on seven hits.

“He felt great, and he showed no indication tonight other than a pitcher who’s healthy,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “That’s a great sign.”

Ortiz looked much like a pitcher making his fifth start of the spring, which is essentially what he did Tuesday. He was sidelined for 10 days after being diagnosed with a labrum tear in mid-March. He made one Cactus League appearance, started two triple-A exhibitions in Arizona and once for Class-A Lake Elsinore last Thursday.

He threw 83 pitches against Toronto, and he was slightly limited in terms of arm strength and stamina, which seemed normal for a pitcher in his stage of development.

But he made some excellent pitches when he had to, striking out Mondesi and Delgado with runners on second and third to end the third inning.

“He didn’t surprise us as far as being very, very good or very, very poor,” Scioscia said. “There’s no question about his stuff. His command wasn’t as good in the later innings, but when push came to shove, he made some tremendous pitches.”

Ortiz has been the focus of much debate, with some thinking the Angels could be risking the future of their prized pitching prospect by using him with a torn labrum and the Angels insisting they would never put Ortiz in harm’s way.

“He would not be on that mound if we felt he was at a risk,” Scioscia said. “We are more concerned with Ramon Ortiz as a person and with his career than we are with this team. I can guarantee you we will not compromise his future for this organization.”

Scioscia felt better about Ortiz after watching him pitch six strong innings at Lake Elsinore last week.

“I saw a guy throw 80 pitches that night with a 93-mph fastball, showing no ill effects [from his shoulder],” Scioscia said. “Obviously it’s a long season, and only time will tell, but I’m optimistic. I’ve seen guys pitch with this. No doubt, we’re going to watch him closely. But we’re hopeful he’s going to be able to pitch for a long time and this becomes a nonissue.”

Tuesday’s victory assured the Angels (5-3) of a winning record on an extremely challenging nine-game, season-opening homestand against the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Blue Jays.

The Angels provided Ortiz with a four-run cushion in the second, when Garret Anderson doubled and scored on Troy Glaus’ single, Bengie Molina walked, Benji Gil singled and Erstad knocked a Kelvim Escobar breaking ball into the right-field seats for a three-run homer.

Vaughn’s opposite-field homer in the third made it 5-0, but Mondesi’s two-run homer in the fifth trimmed the lead to 5-2.

Toronto scored in the seventh (Lou Pote wild pitch) and eighth (Joze Cruz Jr. triple, Shannon Stewart single), but Percival, who had a bone chip removed and several shoulder tears surgically repaired last October, slammed the door by blowing strike-three fastballs past Mondesi (94 mph), Delgado (96) and Fullmer (95).

“That’s the best I’ve felt mentally in a long time,” Percival said. “I was very aggressive, and I finally got through the mind-set that I’m not hurt any more. I told myself if I’m going to blow it out, I’ll blow it out. I’m just going to let it fly.”