Angels Have Ace in Ortiz

The Angels fancy themselves a playoff team. If they somehow scramble past the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics and advance into October, they could well hand the ball to Ramon Ortiz to start the first game of the playoffs--against, say, Roger Clemens.

Today, they could thank Ortiz for refusing to let them lose a game they had little business winning. If the Angels weren’t making outs in the clutch Wednesday, they were running into outs on the bases. But Ortiz kept the Angels alive until they could score two runs in the seventh inning and another in the eighth, overcoming their own mistakes and the Red Sox in a 4-2 victory over Boston at Edison Field.

Ortiz carried a shutout into the seventh inning, with Al Levine getting three outs for the victory and Troy Percival the final four for his 36th save. Catcher Bengie Molina collected four hits, including a home run, as the Angels closed within three games of Boston and six of Oakland in the wild-card standings.

The Angels rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the seventh, scoring two runs--one unearned--on singles by Darin Erstad and Garret Anderson.

Ortiz, the Angels’ prodigy from the Dominican Republic, has not lost since July 15. In his last six starts--discounting one in which an injury forced him out in the second inning--he is 4-0 with a 2.44 earned-run average.

He gave up two hits and no runs six innings Wednesday, retiring the Red Sox in order in four innings.

“He had everything working for him,” Molina said.

In the second inning, with two on and two out, Ortiz struck out Mike Lansing. In the third inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Ortiz struck out Carl Everett and Dante Bichette.

“He’s learned how to control himself out there,” Molina said. “Last year, he would have gone crazy. He probably would have started worrying and shaking signs off.”

Said pitching coach Bud Black: “That’s the progress he’s made this year, a big difference between last year and the early part of this year. He’s getting the feel out of working out of jams.”

Ortiz had retired 11 consecutive batters when he hit Troy O’Leary to start the seventh. Shea Hillenbrand doubled O’Leary to third, Lansing doubled both runners home, and in one swing the Red Sox had ended the shutout, taken a 2-1 lead and knocked Ortiz out of the game.

Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball did not show up until late in the first inning, and both teams stood around waiting for it. Wakefield walked the first Angel batter, and the second, and the third.

Bases loaded, none out, and the Angels could have broken this one open by sundown. They got nothing. Wakefield’s knuckleball arrived just in time, and the Angels failed even to get a ball out of the infield--Anderson fouled out, Troy Glaus struck out and Tim Salmon popped up.

In the fifth inning, with a runner at third base and one out, the Angels again failed to get a ball out of the infield. Troy Glaus--mired in a 5-for-41 (.122) slump--struck out and Anderson grounded out.

The Angels played a different futility card in the sixth, running themselves out of the inning when Scott Spiezio singled but was caught stealing and Adam Kennedy singled but was thrown out by plenty trying to stretch it into a double. In the seventh, Molina was trapped off third base and tagged out.

Shawn Wooten, who is hitting .312 and had two hits Tuesday, was back on the bench Wednesday. He returned to the team last week, after missing all but two games over the previous two weeks because of the illness and subsequent death of his father. The regular job as designated hitter is his no longer.

If Manager Mike Scioscia does not use the DH spot to give a starter a day off from field duties, as he did Wednesday with shortstop David Eckstein, he said he would check matchups before deciding whether to use Wooten, Benji Gil or Orlando Palmiero.

Scioscia said his decision to split the DH job reflected his desire to maximize every possible advantage in a playoff race and not any failing on Wooten’s part.

“A month ago, he was considered our everyday DH,” Scioscia said. “We still consider him as having that potential.”