Angels’ Ortiz Takes Control

It wasn’t as dazzling as his complete-game victory over the Boston Red Sox and his idol, Pedro Martinez, last season, and it wasn’t even his most dominant performance of this season.

But considering the circumstances and the opponent, Angel pitcher Ramon Ortiz’s complete-game six-hitter in a 7-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians before 42,528 at Jacobs Field Friday night was nothing short of remarkable.

Ortiz left his last start, against Toronto last Saturday night, in the second inning because of a sore shoulder, an injury the Dominican right-hander feared was serious.

And he was facing a potent team that leads the American League in hitting (.291), features the league leaders in batting (Roberto Alomar, .351), home runs (Jim Thome, 42) and runs batted in (Juan Gonzalez, 107) and has staged some memorable comebacks in recent weeks.

No problem for Ortiz, who ended the Indians’ four-game win streak, won his fourth consecutive decision and needed only 104 pitches, including four during a breezy seventh, to finish his third career complete game and improve to 11-7.

The Angels, who remained five games behind Oakland in the wild-card race and passed Minnesota to move into third place in the wild-card standings, have won 12 of 16 games and are 23-12 since the All-Star break.

“Complete games aren’t essential, but they’re important because they give your bullpen a rest,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “But taking command of a game from start to finish has to give a pitcher confidence, and to do that against a lineup like that is tremendous.”

Ortiz, who has pitched into the seventh inning or later in 18 of his 24 starts, said his arm felt a lot better Friday than it did last Saturday, and he seemed comfortable throughout the evening.

His only rough spot came when he walked Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel on eight pitches to open the sixth, but he got out of the inning giving up only one run, on Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly.

“When Ramon is in his mechanics, he has electric stuff with tremendous command, and that’s a tough combination to beat,” Scioscia said. “He locates his fastball, has a good changeup and outstanding slider. With experience, he’ll minimize those pockets when he’s out of sync.

“But those areas where he’s out of his mechanics seem to be little brush fires instead of raging forest fires. He keeps taking steps in the right direction.”

The Angels backed Ortiz with 12 hits, including three each by Scott Spiezio and Darin Erstad, and an air-tight defense that included Erstad’s run-saving diving catch of Thome’s drive to the gap in right center in the fourth.

Erstad’s glove hand buckled underneath his chest when he hit the turf, and he appeared to injure his right wrist. But he remained in the game and had two hits in his next three at-bats.

“It really didn’t feel very good,” Erstad said. “I tweaked it. Hopefully everything will be OK [today] .... I had no clue I had the ball. I rolled over, looked in the glove, and there it was.”

Erstad, a Gold Glove winner in 2000, also has no clue how he decides to attempt such plays.

“I run, and it kind of happens,” he said. “There’s a point of no return where you either dive or peel off, and I’m not very good at peeling off.”

Ortiz appreciated the effort, calling Friday night’s play and Erstad’s running catch in Detroit Wednesday “two of the best plays I’ve seen in all my time in the big leagues.”

He also appreciated the offensive support. The Angels scored three runs in the first on Erstad’s RBI single and Spiezio’s two-run double, one in the second on David Eckstein’s RBI single and three in the fifth on Spiezio’s RBI single and Tim Salmon’s two-run double to take a 7-0 lead.

But in the back of Angel minds was Cleveland’s comeback from a 12-run, seventh-inning deficit to beat Seattle, 15-14, on Aug. 5, and the Indians’ 10-run eighth inning that erased a 12-4 deficit and gave them a 14-12 win over the Angels on Aug. 31, 1999.

“You never feel comfortable against a team like this,” Erstad said. “We’ve been there with leads like this, and crazy things happen. They’re an unbelievable team and they never die. You can’t expect a three-run lead to hold up against a team like that.”