No Power Shortage for Angels in 10-3 Win

If this was Mike Scioscia’s “contact/action” lineup, it should be interesting to see how the Angel manager’s power-hitting alignment works out.

With No. 3 batter Tim Salmon sidelined because of food poisoning and two other regulars on the bench, the Angels ripped four home runs, including two by Troy Glaus, in a 10-3 victory over the Texas Rangers before 34,120 at The Ballpark in Arlington Thursday night.

“How about that--you take one of our biggest home-run hitters out of the lineup, and we end up pounding the ball,” said Scioscia, whose Angels ended a two-game, season-opening losing streak. “It doesn’t make sense, does it?”

It does for Glaus. The Angel third baseman led the American League with 47 homers last season and loves hitting in the Rangers’ park, where he has a career .390 average (23 of 59) with nine homers and 15 runs batted.

But not for Jorge Fabregas, a light-hitting backup catcher whose three-run homer broke open a tight game in the sixth, and Wally Joyner, the veteran first baseman who is known as a contact hitter but hit a game-tying homer to right in the fourth.

The 13-hit outburst, which came after two frustrating losses in which the Angels failed to score four times after loading the bases with one out or less, provided plenty of support for pitcher Ramon Ortiz, who gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings and had a career-high 10 strikeouts.

Ortiz had a lively 94-mph fastball and a sharp slider, and he kept the big Ranger batters off balance with his changeup, but the key to his dominance and his great spring (3-1, 2.84 earned-run average) was his composure.

The young Dominican right-hander was demoted to triple-A Edmonton last May because he lacked command and overthrew in tense situations, but four quality starts in five big league games last September boosted his confidence.

“I try to be calm, relaxed,” Ortiz, 25, said. “I’m just thinking about making good pitches and not trying to throw fastballs by everyone. I’m working the corners, changing speeds.”

Salmon’s sudden illness threw Scioscia for a curve before the game; he responded by moving Glaus from cleanup to third, Garret Anderson from fifth to fourth and Joyner from second to fifth.

Orlando Palmeiro replaced Salmon in right and batted second, Fabregas spelled Bengie Molina behind the plate, and Jose Nieves started over Benji Gil at shortstop.

“We can still put out a good lineup [without Salmon], but sometimes runs come in different forms,” Scioscia said before the game. “This is more of a contact/action lineup.”

The Angels made plenty of contact. And there was plenty of action--for the fans in the outfield seats. After Chad Curtis’ two-run homer gave Texas the lead in the second, Glaus launched a solo homer to center and Joyner lined a ball that cleared the right-field wall by about a foot, his first homer as an Angel since Sept. 1, 1991.

Anderson started the sixth-inning rally with a triple to right-center field, and Joyner slapped a run-scoring single to left-center for a 3-2 lead. Glenallen Hill’s wicked liner off Ranger right-hander Ryan Glynn’s pitching shoulder sent Joyner to second and Glynn to the hospital for X-rays, which were negative.

Texas Manager Johnny Oates summoned right-hander Jeff Brantley, and Fabregas greeted him with a three-run homer that traveled an estimated 410 feet to right, Fabregas’ 19th home run in 1,527 major league at-bats.

“Hitting is contagious--when you’re on a ballclub that hits, you can feel it,” Fabregas said. “You see everyone doing it, and you want to get in on the action.”

Slumps can be contagious too, but the Angels brushed off their struggles from Tuesday and Wednesday, when they combined to go five of 21 with runners in scoring position. Glaus added another homer in the seventh for his ninth career two-homer game, and Anderson keyed a three-run ninth with a two-run single.

“The thing that surprises me about this team is its memory span isn’t very long, which is good,” said Joyner, who made his first start Thursday. “Guys forget about their last at-bat, their last game. I was more nervous than anyone else here. Maybe I can learn from them.”