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At 6-feet-6 and 205 pounds, Jon Garland of the Chicago White Sox has the look of an elite big league pitcher.

But an ability to maintain his composure might be the greatest asset for the 1997 graduate of Kennedy High who at 20 years, 10 months, is the youngest pitcher in the majors.

Garland’s poise was put to the test in the fifth inning of the White Sox’ 6-5 victory over the Angels at Edison International Field on Thursday night.

Chicago led, 6-0, after 4 1/2 innings, but the Angels turned two hits, two walks, an error and another misplay into four runs in the fifth.

Garland, who was making his fourth big league start and his first in Southern California, walked Troy Glaus and Bengie Molina to start the inning.

Then the shaky White Sox defense betrayed him.

Adam Kennedy loaded the bases on an infield hit that could have been ruled an error on second baseman Ray Durham.

Garland then got Orlando Palmeiro to hit a double-play ball to shortstop Jose Valentin, but it took Valentin three tries to get the ball out of his glove and by the time he tossed it to Durham at second, everyone was safe and Glaus had scored to cut the lead to 6-1.

Darin Erstad, who entered the game hitting .378, lined a single up the middle to drive in two more runs.

The crowd of 24,394 was on its feet at that point and the scoreboard was flashing a message that read, “Louder. He’s rattled.”

But Garland stayed cool.

He struck out Kevin Stocker swinging and induced Mo Vaughn to hit a double-play ball to Durham.

Durham flipped the ball to Valentin, who was covering second, but Valentin double-clutched on his throw to first and Vaughn was safe.

Palmeiro scored on the play to cut the deficit to 6-4.

Garland finally got out of the inning by getting Tim Salmon to ground to Valentin.

“My sinker was going well for me and they were getting a lot of ground balls,” Garland said.

“Errors are going to happen. You can’t control it. You’ve got to get back out on the mound pitch. It’s just part of the game. You can’t worry about it.”

Garland retired the side in the sixth and was removed by Chicago Manager Jerry Manuel.

“That was an outstanding effort,” Manuel said. “To continue to pitch the way he did. . . . After the errors, he seemed to take it up a notch. That was impressive. It was good to see how he responded to adversity. And he responded well.”

Garland gave up four runs--two earned--and five hits, struck out two and walked three to improve his record to 2-2.

The poise was no surprise to his former coaches.

“He was always real focused,” Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado said. “That’s what I told scouts when they were looking at him in high school and that’s what I’ve heard from scouts since.

“He was just real mature on the field. Off the field, he acted like your typical teenager, but on the field, he was all business.”

Andy Montes, Alvarado’s assistant at Kennedy for the past 12 years, recognizes the same qualities.

“He always just went out and pitched his game,” Montes said. “If things went good, you couldn’t tell. And if things went bad, you couldn’t tell.”

The victory followed a loss at Boston last Saturday when he allowed six runs--five earned--on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

It also came before a contingent of about 100 Garland fans that included Jon’s mother, Vikki, his sisters, Kim, 26, and Kerri, 24, his maternal grandparents, Bill and Jan Peralta, Alvarado, Montes and about 90 or so others that included aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

“It felt good,” Garland said. “I had a lot of people here. It felt real good to go out and have a good start.”

It was the second time this month that Garland’s mother, sisters and grandparents saw him pitch.

They were in Kansas City on July 4 for Garland’s first major league start after being called up from triple-A Charlotte. He had a 9-3 record and was second in the International League with a 2.26 earned-run average.

Although Garland gave up seven runs--all earned--on eight hits in three innings in a 10-7 loss to the Royals, he didn’t get down.

“I had lunch with him after the all-star break and he said, ‘Did you see me? I stunk up the place,’ ” Montes said. “He wasn’t happy with the way he pitched, but he was able to laugh about it later.”

Garland picked up his first victory July 17 in Milwaukee when he gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings of a 11-2 victory over the Brewers.

Garland moved quickly through the minors after being traded from the Chicago Cubs to the White Sox in 1998. He was the Cubs’ first-round pick in 1997 and received a signing bonus of $1.35 million.

It appears the investment was sound--although the White Sox, not the Cubs, are benefiting.

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By The Numbers

20: Garland’s age (20 years and 10 months), making him the youngest player in the majors

2: Victories this season in four starts for the White Sox

14: Season strikeout total this season

16: Earned runs allowed this season

6: Innings pitched against the Angels Thursday night