Holtz Shows He Still Has a Little Pop Left

But for two curveballs from left-hander Mike Holtz to Baltimore’s Brady Anderson and the popups that resulted, the Angels might be playing tonight to avoid a series sweep.

As it is, Holtz retired the Oriole leadoff hitter in two critical situations and the Angels have a chance to win three of four and stay in contention in the AL West.

Anderson batted in the eighth inning Friday with a runner in scoring position and the Orioles behind by a run. He batted in the seventh inning Sunday with one out and a runner at third, the score tied.

“That,” Manager Mike Scioscia said of the most recent event, “is a huge out.”

Holtz, whose role is to get the big left-handed hitter, retired Anderson with three consecutive curveballs Friday. Sunday, with the infield in, he threw two fastballs and followed them with four curveballs, the last of which Anderson popped to second base.

“I think he’s just trying to drive the ball,” Holtz said. “I wanted to try to keep the ball down, get him to hit in on the ground.”

With a run already in, he added, “I’m just trying to deaden the momentum right there.”

The Angels won, 2-1, with a run in the bottom of the seventh.

*

Scott Karl hasn’t seen a replay of his friend, Bryce Florie, getting hit in the face with a line drive. And if he knew the replay was coming, he would turn away.

Florie, the Boston reliever, was struck in the right eye in a game against the New York Yankees on Friday night. He faces surgery and the possibility he will lose normal vision in that eye.

“I’m hoping not to ever see it,” said Karl, a teammate of Florie’s in Milwaukee. “I’m sure the Yankee guys were sorry they did.”

About 55 feet from the batter when they complete their delivery, pitchers are too vulnerable to the comebacker to spend emotion considering the consequences. When it is a friend who suffers the unthinkable, it is jarring.

“You know why?,” said Kent Mercker, who pitched with Florie in Boston last season. “Because you don’t get hit in the face with the soft line drive. If it’s soft, you catch it.”

Mercker admitted the possibility crosses his mind on the occasional outside changeup that hangs for a powerful pull hitter such as Jose Canseco.

“For a second,” he said, “you think about it.”

*

Two years ago, while pitching for Milwaukee, Karl deflected a liner hit by Shane Andrews that otherwise would have caught him flush in the eye. He still thinks about it once in a while.

“You like to think you’re invincible, that that can’t happen to you,” Karl said. “The fact is, you’ve got no chance of getting out of the way. It’s hard to talk about and hard to watch. Like Tony Saunders breaking his arm, you try to fool yourself into thinking that can’t happen.”

Scioscia said the injuries, even the catastrophic ones, come with the competition. He added that if athletes were to dwell on the potential for harm, there’d be no achievement.

“If you’re a quarterback,” Scioscia said, “do you need to see Joe Theismann [getting his leg broken] to realize it’s a rough game?”

*

Cal Ripken, who played third base Friday night and was the designated hitter Saturday, sat out Sunday’s game.

While presented as a simple day off, Baltimore Manager Mike Hargrove cast some doubt as to Ripken’s availability. He might have jarred his back making a diving play to his left Friday.

Ripken was on the disabled list for nine weeks because of inflammation in his lower back.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS (7-7, 4.89) vs. ORIOLES’ SIDNEY PONSON

(7-11, 5.26)

Edison Field, 7

TV--Fox Sports Net

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090)

* Update--There are those around the organization who view Schoeneweis as an emerging ace, based on his killer sinker and strong competitive spirit. Schoeneweis is second in the majors with a 2.49 groundball-to-flyball ratio. Atlanta’s Greg Maddux is first. Schoeneweis shut out Detroit over eight innings Wednesday and has given up three earned runs in 14 1/3 innings over his last two starts. Ponson has lost his last three starts.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000.