Angels Hung Out to Dry

Angel pitcher Ramon Ortiz found some middle ground Wednesday night, delivering a solid and soothing performance that was a few notches below his most dominating games but far superior to some of the jittery, mistake-filled outings that have perplexed his coaches.

The same could not be said of his Angel teammates, who were on shaky ground for at least two key moments of a 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox before what remained of a Fenway Park crowd of 32,958.

Ortiz, unfazed by a 3-hour, 1-minute rain delay, gave up three runs--two earned--on five hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking five.

The young right-hander from the Dominican Republic battled control problems but seemed a lot more in control than he did in New York Friday night, when he was filled with far too much nervous energy and seemed to do more twitching than pitching.

But Garret Anderson’s first-inning error on a soggy outfield allowed the Red Sox to score their first run Wednesday night, and Troy Glaus’ hesitation on the basepaths in the fourth may have cost the Angels a run.

In the bigger picture, the Angels went 4-5 on their nine-game swing through Toronto, New York and Boston, a grueling trip against the top three teams in the American League East that some thought would make or break them.

It did neither. The Angels were eight games behind Seattle when the trip began; they are now 5 1/2 games behind the Mariners. They were two games behind Oakland in the wild-card race at the start of the trip; they are now 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland.

There was some doubt whether the Angels would even play the final game of the trip. A heavy downpour that lasted for about 2 1/2 hours threatened to wash away the game, but because it was the last scheduled meeting between the Red Sox and Angels this season, the American League’s 1 a.m. curfew was lifted, and the teams waited long into the night for the rain to stop.

The skies over Fenway finally began to clear about 9:30 p.m. local time and the tarpaulin was removed from the infield. When Boston starter Tomo Ohka delivered the first pitch at 10:06 p.m., there was a huge puddle on the left-center field warning track, and the outfield appeared to be drenched.

It didn’t take long for the conditions to affect the game. With Brian Daubach on first and two out in the bottom of the first inning, Troy O’Leary’s liner to center field took one hop and skidded by Anderson for an error, enabling Daubach to score and give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

Angel right fielder Tim Salmon also bobbled a ball for an error in the third, though it didn’t cost the Angels during Boston’s two-run inning. Jose Offerman walked with one out, took second on Ortiz’s wild pitch and scored on Daubach’s single to right.

Carl Everett singled to center, moving Daubach to third, and O’Leary singled to right to drive inDaubach and give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.

The Angels countered in the top of the fourth when Mo Vaughn smashed a leadoff home run to straightaway center, his 31st and a bomb that traveled an estimated 430 feet, but some confusion on the basepaths proved costly.

Glaus walked with two out, and Adam Kennedy grounded a double down the right-field line. When outfielder Trot Nixon threw to second instead of home, third base coach Ron Roenicke waved Glaus around third, but Glaus stopped a few steps beyond the bag before starting for home again.

Shortstop Manny Alexander, starting in place of the injured Nomar Garciaparra, fielded Nixon’s throw and had plenty of time to nail Glaus at the plate to end the inning.

Ohka, the Japanese right-hander, went 5 1/3 innings, giving up one run on five hits, to improve to 3-2, and relievers Rod Beck, Rheal Cormier, Rich Garces and Derek Lowe blanked the Angels over the final 3 2/3 innings.

The Angels threatened in the eighth when they loaded the bases with two out, but Garces got Kennedy to pop to second for the final out. Bengie Molina singled to open the ninth, but Kevin Stocker, with pinch-runner Benji Gil off with the pitch, lined to third baseman Lou Merloni, who threw to first for the easy double play.