Ortiz Outduels Martinez

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

Aug. 9, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Maybe it took the real Pedro Martinez to bring out the Pedro Martinez-sized potential in Angel pitcher Ramon Ortiz, the young right-hander whose slight stature, blazing fastball and Dominican descent have drawn so many comparisons to the Boston Red Sox ace.

Ortiz faced his friend and idol for the first time Tuesday night, a dream matchup he predicted would be “the greatest day of my life,” and it turned out even better: Ortiz outdueled Martinez, throwing a complete-game, two-hitter with six strikeouts in a crisp 2-1 victory over the Red Sox.

An Edison Field crowd of 27,293 rose to its feet and roared its approval as third baseman Troy Glaus drifted into foul territory for Carl Everett’s two-out popup in the ninth. The emotional and excitable Ortiz “went crazy, I was jumping like a little kid out there,” once the ball nestled into Glaus’ glove for the final out.

Ortiz was practically bouncing off the clubhouse walls after the game. Two anchors wouldn’t have kept his feet on the ground.

“Oh my God, I don’t believe it,” said Ortiz, who was recalled from triple-A Edmonton Monday night. “My family is probably going crazy in the Dominican Republic right now. This was the greatest day of my life . . . I still can’t believe I won the game.”

Martinez could. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner went the distance, giving up three hits, striking out nine and walking none, but he said he was the second-best pitcher in Edison Field Tuesday night.

“I didn’t pitch as good as the other guy,” said Martinez, who lost for the first time since June 20 and fell to 13-4. “The results are out there. He gave up one run, I gave up two.

“He’s young, he’s going to be erratic sometimes, and he’s not going to be as consistent as I might be. But he’s got a good arm, as good as mine, if not better. It’s a matter of getting the experience. Not every day is going to be like today.”

For Martinez too. It was a little eerie seeing a pitcher who is about the same size, with the same body type and delivery and almost the same repertoire--Martinez throws a fastball, curve, changeup; Ortiz fastball, slider, changeup.

“It was like seeing my brother pitch for the other side,” Martinez said. “I’m really happy for him and really proud of him.”

The Angels had a walk-up ticket sale of 6,798 Tuesday night, presumably because of Martinez’s name on the marquee.

“They might have come to see Pedro tonight,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said, “but they’ll come back to see Ramon, I guarantee that.”

Ortiz had pinpoint control of his fastball and mixed his slider and changeups effectively. Of his 112 pitches, 72 were strikes.

Ortiz’s only blemishes were Mike Lansing’s single in the third and Troy O’Leary’s double in the fifth. O’Leary eventually scored on Ed Sprague’s RBI groundout, pulling the Red Sox to within 2-1 after Tim Salmon had homered in the second and Garret Anderson knocked in Orlando Palmeiro with an RBI single in the fourth to stake the Angels to a 2-0 lead.

Ortiz then showed just how much he has matured in the seventh. O’Leary sent a routine fly ball to center with one out, but Anderson squeezed his glove a bit too soon, and the ball popped out of his mitt for a stunning two-base error.

Ortiz hardly flinched. The pitcher who showed such little poise in April that he was demoted to Edmonton, who always seemed to overthrow and lose his command in tense situations, remained calm.

He retired Brian Daubach on a grounder to second and struck out Sprague on three pitches, the final one a fastball on the outside corner that froze Sprague.

“Instead of trying to throw 99 mph, he made his pitches and kept his command, and that was very encouraging,” Scioscia said. “That was a 180-degree turn from earlier this season. He handled adversity a lot better.”

Although the game lasted only 2 hours 2 minutes, Angel first baseman Mo Vaughn called it “one of the best games I’ve ever been involved in . . . for Ramon to pitch like that against his idol was just tremendous.”

Ortiz would concur.

Though he spoke Spanish for most of his postgame interview, no translator was needed for his parting thought: “Oh my God . . . no sleep tonight.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Right Stuff

Even in a losing effort that dropped his record to 13-4, Boston ace Pedro Martinez was dominating as usual Tuesday. A comparison of his numbers to the American League average, with totals from Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Angels:

ERA

SEASON: 1.46

AL AVG.: 4.95

TUE.: 2.25

Hits per 9 inn.

SEASON: 5.26

AL AVG.: 9.70

TUE.: 3.38

BB per 9 inn.

SEASON: 1.58

AL AVG.: 3.76

TUE.: 0