Angels’ Wise Move Pays Off in 8-4 Victory

Two innings into his second big league start, Angel pitcher Matt Wise found the American League’s leading most valuable player candidate, Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado, barking at him, glaring at him, and giving every indication he was about to charge the mound.

If Wise flinched, he hid it well.

The rookie right-hander didn’t back down, and neither did the Angels, who parlayed Wise’s quality start, Ron Gant’s spectacular catch in left field, and home runs by Garret Anderson, Mo Vaughn and Gant into an 8-4 victory over the Blue Jays on Tuesday before 26,706 in the SkyDome.

Wise gave up three runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings for his first major league victory, and the Angels opened a nine-game trip through Toronto, New York and Boston on a high note. Wise and the Angels also served notice they will not be intimidated.

Delgado, leading off the second, had squared to bunt, hoping to sabotage an odd Angel shift in which third baseman Troy Glaus moved to shortstop, second baseman Adam Kennedy manned his normal position and shortstop Benji Gil moved to shallow right field, about 20 feet from the line.

But Wise’s first pitch, a fastball, drilled Delgado in the groin area, and Delgado fumed as he walked to first, Angel catcher Bengie Molina in tow. Then Angel Manager Mike Scioscia went to the mound.

“I went out to calm Matt down, and he wound up calming me down,” Scioscia said. “That showed me something. He got right back on the beam. He was like, ‘The heck with that, I’m ready to go.’ ”

So was Toronto starter David Wells. To rumble, that is. The veteran left-hander wasted no time retaliating.

His first pitch of the third nailed Gil in the right knee, and umpire Andrew Fletcher warned both benches that any further hostilities would result in ejections.

“There’s no way in the world Matt was trying to hit Delgado,” Scioscia said. “It was obvious to us and the umps [Wells’ pitch was intentional]. I don’t know what their reaction stemmed from. I told the ump if he thought [Wells] purposely threw at a hitter, he should throw him out of the game.”

Gil got a measure of revenge, taking out second baseman Mickey Morandini with a hard slide on Glaus’ ensuing grounder, though Morandini was able to complete the inning-ending double play.

“I wanted my chance to get someone back,” Gil said.

The Angels took out the rest of their anger on Wells, who was rocked for six runs in 4 2/3 innings and is 2-3 with a 7.01 earned-run average since the All-Star break, which he entered with a 15-2 record.

Anderson homered in the first, Vaughn crushed a two-run homer in the fourth, improving to .443 lifetime with eight homers off Wells, and the Angels scored three more runs off Wells in the fifth on Vaughn’s bases-loaded walk, Gant’s sacrifice fly and Anderson’s RBI single.

Gant added a two-run homer in the ninth, but his best play came in the fourth, when he made an over-the-shoulder catch of Tony Batista’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly just before slamming into the mesh netting that serves as the left-field wall. The catch saved one and possibly two runs and preserved a 3-1 lead.

“I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from catching that ball,” Gant said. “I thought I was going to run right through the fence.”

Gant, however, bounced off the wall, threw to the infield and broke into a huge grin.

“I was laughing to keep from crying, because it hurt,” he said. “Thank God that fence had some give. If that was Wrigley Field, I’d still be out there right now.”

The SkyDome has been like Wrigley Field with the wind blowing out this season--Shannon Stewart’s two-run homer in the fifth was Toronto’s 113th home run at home, a club record.

But that was the only extra-base hit given up by Wise, who showed plenty of fight despite being happy to avoid one earlier with Delgado.

“I didn’t want to get caught up in that,” Wise said. “They knew I’m a young rookie, but I wasn’t going to back down. I’m just glad things didn’t escalate from there.

“I didn’t mean to hit him, but if I have to throw inside against him again, I will. I don’t want to hit him, but you have to throw inside to be successful.”