Bullpen Comes Through in Late-Night Victory

It is the bullpen’s job to serve and protect--leads, tie games, small deficits--but Angel relievers spent most of April serving up run-scoring hits in bunches and protecting little. Take away closer Troy Percival, and the bullpen combined for a 7.13 earned-run average (52 runs in 65 2/3 innings) entering the weekend.

But an area of the team the Angels had considered a strength finally flexed its collective muscle Saturday night, taking the baton from wobbly starter Ken Hill in the sixth inning and combining to give up just one run in 7 1/3 innings of the Angels’ 7-6, 13-inning victory over the Devil Rays.

Mark Petkovsek didn’t give up a hit in 1 1/3 innings, and Percival added a scoreless 10th, but most impressive was right-hander Al Levine, a long reliever whose work is usually completed by the seventh inning but was pressed into late-inning duty Saturday night.

Levine held Tampa Bay scoreless on three hits in the 11th, 12th and 13th innings, giving the Angels a chance to win the game on Tim Salmon’s solo home run to lead off the bottom of the 13th.

“It was more of an adrenaline rush [being in a game that late],” Levine said. “You have to control it. Sometimes I get overly quick and try to do too much. But I was happy to get a chance to do something like that.”

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One day Angel left fielder Darin Erstad said he’s sporting a red beard because he’s too lazy to shave. Another day, he said it was part of a marketing ploy. “I’m working on a new image,” he said. “Tough guy.” He also said his wife likes the beard and asked him not to shave.

Erstad would never admit that the reason for the beard is he leads the major leagues with a .449 average and 16 multiple-hit games, that he set a major league record for hits in April with 48, that at least a dozen of his hits were bloops that dropped in, and that baseball superstition dictates he shouldn’t change his appearance as long as things are going well.

“C’mon, do you really think that has something to do with it?” Erstad said after a two-hit performance in the Angels’ 5-2 win Sunday. “I don’t know . . . it’s just a look.”

It’s a look Manager Mike Scioscia could grow fond of. Asked about the possibility of Erstad not shaving until his bat cooled, Sciosica placed his hand near the middle of his chest and said, “I hope to see his beard down to here.”

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Reliever Lou Pote, who had a 4.76 ERA in 11 appearances, was optioned to triple-A Edmonton after Saturday night’s game, and left-hander Mike Holtz, who had a 10.80 ERA in six appearances for Edmonton, was recalled.

The Angels think Pote, who had a 2.15 ERA and three saves in 20 games last season, has the potential to be a major league setup man, but the right-hander has struggled with his confidence and command.

“We hope Lou is taking one step backward so he can take two steps forward,” Scioscia said. “He’s not throwing the ball consistently well. He needs to go down and get regular work.”

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Catcher Bengie Molina was scheduled for a day off Sunday, but he probably couldn’t have played if Scioscia wanted him to. The stomach virus that caused him to lose 10 pounds Wednesday and Thursday returned Sunday, and Molina went to the UCI Medical Center in Orange before the game for some tests and to be pumped with a bag of intravenous fluids.

“I think it’s some kind of food poisoning,” Molina said. “I thought I was getting better [Saturday]. I guess I was wrong.”