Percival Has MRI, X-Rays, but Says He’s Ready to Pitch

Angel closer Troy Percival pronounced himself fit and ready to pitch Wednesday, a day after undergoing an MRI exam and X-rays on his back and right hip.

When he will pitch, however, was not in his hands. Percival could not pitch Tuesday because of muscle spasms in his back and hip, the result, he said, of a long flight from Baltimore on Monday.

“I went and had some tests, it was no big deal,” Percival said. “I can pitch through it. I told them, ‘Yes, I can pitch.’ But that’s not my business. I just take the ball any time it is available.”

Manager Mike Scioscia was uncertain when he would make the ball available.

“Our preference is to give him another day,” Scioscia said.

Percival didn’t pitch in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Percival and Scioscia downplayed the situation. Percival said sleeping in an awkward position on the flight home from Baltimore caused the stiffness.

He said it had nothing to do his recent performances. Percival blew a save, giving up three runs in one inning against Baltimore on Saturday. He gave up two runs in one inning and took the loss against Arizona on July 14.

Percival is 3-2 with a 2.15 earned-run average and 25 saves in 27 opportunities this season.

“I had the same stiffness during spring training and pitched,” Percival said. “My hip locked and they had to pop it back into place. That’s just like popping a knuckle. My back is still a little sore, but I can pitch with it. When I have an MRI on my elbow or shoulder, then we have a problem.”

There was another controversial moment involving the 18-foot right-field wall at Edison Field on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay Manager Hal McRae argued that Garret Anderson’s fifth-inning home had not cleared the fence, only the latest disputed home run since the stadium was renovated in 1998.

“You have to run it out any time you hit one to right, no matter how hard you think you hit it,” right fielder Tim Salmon said. “I had a couple that I thought I hit pretty well that hit off the wall. It’s an unusual wall, there is really nothing like it in baseball.”

Anderson, though, has developed a rule of thumb.

“If the ball hits that metal wall, it drops straight down,” Anderson said. “If it hits high and bounces back, that means it was above the scoreboard, which is a home run.”

Still, Anderson didn’t seem completely sure Tuesday. He stopped and headed back to second base until umpires signed that is was a home run.

“Oh, I was just making sure I touched all the bases,” Anderson said, smiling.

The Angels optioned relief pitcher Toby Borland to triple-A to make room for pitcher Matt Wise, who started Wednesday’s game.

The Angels will honor Ross Newhan, The Times’ national baseball writer, in a ceremony before Friday’s game against the Orioles. Newhan will be inducted into the writer’s chapter of the Baseball Hall of Fame on Aug. 5.

While with the Long Beach Press Telegram, Newhan covered the Angels’ first game, also against the Orioles, in 1961. He joined The Times in 1967, covering the Angels and Dodgers, and has been the national baseball columnist since 1985.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

RAMON ORTIZ

(7-7, 4.18 ERA)

vs.

DEVIL RAYS’

RYAN RUPE

(4-8, 6.68 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

TV--Channel 9

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

* Update--Ortiz has pitched into the seventh inning in his last six starts and has a 3-2 record during that stretch.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000.