Scioscia Isn’t Concerned About Ortiz’s Struggles

Ramon Ortiz might have regressed in his last two starts, slipping into some of the bad habits that got him sent to triple A last May, but Manager Mike Scioscia said the right-hander is in no danger of being demoted.

“He’s much improved from where he was last year--I don’t see him going backwards at all,” Scioscia said. “He’s a high-maintenance guy because he’s so excitable, but for the most part, that’s not a major problem. It’s nothing that can’t be ironed out.”

Backup catcher Jorge Fabregas said Ortiz forgot some signs and deviated from the game plan during Sunday’s 5-0 loss to Seattle. Catcher Bengie Molina said Ortiz was “kind of lost, not as focused” in his previous start, a 5-1 loss to Oakland on April 17.

“His excitability will eventually be an asset on the mound,” Scioscia said. “He tries to force a couple of things, and the catchers get frustrated, but that happens to all pitchers--he’s not the first guy to cross a catcher up. He’s a feel guy, and he has to go with it.”

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The irony was not lost on Indian pitcher Chuck Finley. Cleveland swept a three-game series from Toronto to close the 2000 season but needed help from the Angels, Finley’s team for the first 14 years of his career, to edge out Oakland or Seattle for a wild-card berth.

Finley should have known better. The Angels lost their last two games to Seattle, leaving Finley with yet another disappointing season’s end, just like his previous 13 years in Anaheim. The Indians went 38-21 in their last 59 games and had a 90-72 record but finished a game out of the playoffs.

“I called Percy [Angel closer Troy Percival] that weekend and said, ‘Hey, you gotta help us out,’ and the next day they lost, 21-9,” said Finley, who went 6-1 in seven September starts last year. “That Sunday I didn’t even watch [the Angel] game. I’d peek at the score every now and then.

“When [the Angels’ 5-2 loss to Seattle] was over I said, ‘That’s it.’ I was on a plane home the next day. . . . I knew one thing. If we got into the playoffs last year, no one would have wanted to face us.”

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Finley, who will carry a 1-2 record and 6.45 earned-run average into Thursday night’s start against the Angels, has never had major arm problems, and the left-hander liked to boast that Angel team physician Lewis Yocum had never performed surgery on him.

But Yocum finally got Finley onto the operating table last winter, removing torn cartilage in his right knee.

“Yocum was licking his lips,” Finley joked. “He had that mask on, but he penned a smile on it with a Sharpie.”

TODAY

ANGELS’

ISMAEL VALDES

(0-2, 3.29 ERA)

vs.

INDIANS’

C.C. SABATHIA

(2-0, 4.86 ERA)

Jacobs Field, Cleveland, 4 PDT

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

* Update--Valdes is winless, but the right-hander has given up only five earned runs in 13 2/3 innings of his first two starts, showing good velocity on his fastball and control of his curve. Sabathia is a 6-foot-7, 260-pound rookie left-hander whose fastball has been clocked at 92-97 mph. He has an average curve but a good changeup.