Weaver Seems Right at Home

Take Mo Vaughn out of the lineup, and the Angels carry on. Take Glenallen Hill out of the lineup, and the Angels don’t miss a beat. Take Tim Salmon and Bengie Molina out of the lineup, and now you’re talking power crisis at Edison Field.

Depth can only go so far, and Saturday the depth of the Angel bench was no match for Jeff Weaver of the Detroit Tigers. The visitors brought their own power supply for use in an 11-2 rout of the Angels, with Tony Clark, Damion Easley and Dean Palmer all hitting home runs in support of Weaver.

The Angels’ four-game winning streak died with Ramon Ortiz, who gave up a season-high six runs over seven innings.

Weaver made himself right at home at Edison Field, as he always does. Weaver, who grew up in Simi Valley, delighted friends and family by giving up two runs and scattering seven hits over eight innings.

“You don’t want to fail in front of your biggest critics,” Weaver said.

This was his worst effort at Edison Field. In his debut here in 1999, he shut out the Angels over seven innings. In his only appearance here last year, he struck out 12 over eight innings.

Clearly, this man should expect a lucrative free-agent offer from the Angels in 2004.

The quartet of injured Angels combined to hit 111 home runs last season. With Vaughn out for the season and Hill likely out for another week, the Angels learned Saturday that Molina would be out a few weeks because of a hamstring injury. Salmon, weakened by a sinus infection, also could not play Saturday.

So the Angels scrambled to construct a makeshift lineup, one which featured Scott Spiezio hitting third. Spiezio doubled in the first inning, the only pulse detected among the heart of the lineup. The No. 2 through No. 5 hitters combined for one hit in 14 at-bats.

“We think we’ve got a good enough lineup short-term, even without our big bats in the lineup,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “I’m very comfortable with the lineup we had out there.

“Obviously, we don’t want to go long-term missing Molina, Salmon and Hill. But Weaver pitched a terrific game. That said more tonight than some of our guys being out of the lineup.”

Scioscia credited Weaver with an “uncanny combination of velocity and movement.” Angel outfielder Orlando Palmeiro noted Weaver’s deceptive arm angles and terrific location made him tough to beat.

“He didn’t give us anything over the heart of the plate,” Palmeiro said.

The Angels did stake Ortiz to a 2-0 lead in the second inning, a lead Ortiz promptly forfeited in the third.

Easley led off with a home run, and Brandon Inge followed with a single. Ortiz retired the next two hitters, but Bobby Higginson singled home Inge to tie the score, 2-2. Ortiz was so disgusted by his pitch to Higginson, high and outside and perfectly placed for an opposite-field single, that he slapped his left hand against his right arm in frustration.

The frustration had just begun. The next batter, Clark, launched a 425-foot bomb, clearing the center-field fence by plenty. Ortiz, so close to retiring the Tigers and maintaining a 2-1 lead, instead shuffled back to the dugout with the Angels trailing, 4-2.

“The velocity was there. The command was there,” Scioscia said. “I didn’t see Ramon able to put the hitters away.”

Weaver did just that, clamping down on the Angels after their lone rally. The Angels scored their first run on a single by Jorge Fabregas and their second on a groundout, with that out the first of eight consecutive batters recorded by Weaver at a time the Tigers grabbed the lead for good.

“He struggled early and got a little frustrated when they got a couple of runs off him,” Detroit Manager Phil Garner said. “But he settled down and cruised after that.

“I think people are starting to take notice of him. He not only eats up innings, he eats them up 1-2-3.”

The Tigers nicked Ortiz for two more runs in the fifth inning, then added two runs in the eighth inning against reliever Lou Pote and three in the ninth against Mike Holtz.