Ortiz Rewarded After Surviving the Rough Spots

This time it was Ramon Ortiz who maintained his composure while the Angels crumbled around him, the combustible and collapsible young pitcher who picked up his teammates while they stumbled through the first two innings.

Ortiz, who too often has buckled at the first sign of trouble, weathered a three-run, two-error first inning and a one-run, one-error second Wednesday night, giving the Angels a chance to come back for an 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before 16,686 in Edison Field.

Adam Kennedy keyed a five-run fifth with a three-run home run, and No. 9 batter Benji Gil had three hits and scored two runs, as the Angels, who won four of six on this homestand, remained 5 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the wild-card race and six behind Seattle in the American League West.

But the comeback would not have been possible had Ortiz not blanked the Devil Rays from the third through sixth innings. The right-hander from the Dominican Republic gave up four runs--three earned--on six hits and struck out six to improve to 6-5.

“There are going to be games when you get roughed up early,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “You have to learn to bend but not break in those situations. You’ve got to execute your pitches, get out of jams and minimize the damage . . . and the only teacher is experience.”

What a lesson Ortiz had Wednesday night. About the only positive Angel development in the first two innings was the fact that it was not Little League Night in Edison Field--the fewer kids exposed to the Angels’ horrific display of defense, the better.

Third baseman Troy Glaus took too much time on Gerald Williams’ leadoff grounder in the first, and his throw was late. Mo Vaughn’s throwing error allowed Tampa Bay to score its first run, right before Fred McGriff blasted a two-run homer to right for a 3-0 lead.

Vaughn pulled his foot off the bag while catching Kennedy’s throw from second on Russ Johnson’s leadoff grounder in the second. Vaughn then botched a rundown that allowed Tampa Bay to score its fourth run, passing up a chance to tag Gerald Williams, who was within arm’s length of Vaughn, and throwing too late to the plate to catch Johnson.

How bad did the Angels look? When Ortiz fielded Steve Cox’s routine comebacker and threw to first in the third inning, he received a rousing ovation, the crowd greeting the lack of precision with derision.

“We’re not going to win many games with the defense we played tonight,” Scioscia said. “We were very fortunate.”

Ortiz wasn’t lucky. He was good. He allowed only two hits after the second inning, spotting his fastball well and mixing in his slider and changeup.

“I tried to stay in control of the situation instead of letting the situation control me,” Ortiz said. “I have a lot of confidence, and I trust the offense because they’re capable of coming back at any time. I’m more comfortable because of all the different situations I’ve been in this year. I know my stuff belongs in the big leagues. I know I can get people out.”

Scioscia believes Wednesday was a significant step in Ortiz’s growth process, a game that Ortiz should recall when he runs into trouble again.

“Everything that could go wrong did in the first few innings, but he elevated his game and focus and made sure he stayed with his mechanics,” Scioscia said. “He kept his composure and put up all those zeros until the seventh.”

The Angels put up four zeros until busting out against Devil Ray starter Cory Lidle in the fifth, a rally that began with Glaus’ one-out walk.

Bengie Molina singled Glaus to third, and Kennedy, who keyed Tuesday night’s win with three RBIs, drove a 2-2 pitch over the wall for his ninth homer of the season, a three-run shot that pulled the Angels to within 4-3.

Gil doubled to left and scored the tying run when Darin Erstad squibbed a double just beyond third baseman Vinny Castilla’s reach. Orlando Palmeiro capped the rally with an RBI single to center, pushing the Angels ahead, 5-4.

Walks to Glaus and Kennedy preceded two-out RBI singles by Gil and Erstad in a three-run eighth, reliever Mark Petkovsek pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, and Ben Weber added a scoreless ninth for the Angels.