Glaus Changes Script in 4-2 Angel Victory

Angel third baseman Troy Glaus did not like the feel of the dunce cap he was fitted for in the top of the eighth inning Thursday night, so he traded that in for an olive wreath in the bottom of the eighth.

Shaking off a mental gaffe that almost cost his team a run in the eighth, Glaus laced a two-run double into the left-field corner in the bottom half of the inning to lift the Angels to a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays before 15,204 in Edison Field.

Closer Troy Percival retired the side in order in the ninth for his ninth save, making a winner of Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who threw a scoreless eighth in relief of solid starter Ramon Ortiz, but not without a scare.

With the score tied, 2-2, Raul Mondesi walked with two outs and took second when a Hasegawa pitch bounced just to the left of catcher Jose Molina.

Noticing Glaus was positioned near shortstop because of the shift the Angels employed against left-handed slugger Carlos Delgado, Mondesi never slowed around second.

Glaus barely even broke to cover third, and Mondesi took the bag without a slide. Hasegawa, who suffered a loss and two blown saves on the last Angel trip, walked Delgado intentionally and retired Brad Fullmer on an inning-ending forceout to preserve the tie.

“Troy’s standing there and watching Mondesi go to third,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Nobody in the world feels worse about it than Troy. Those things are few and far between. I didn’t think anything needed to be said. He turned the page.”

And re-wrote the script. Darin Erstad beat an infield chopper for his third single of the game to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Tim Salmon, thwarted in two previous at-bats with runners in scoring position, singled to left.

Garret Anderson popped to short, but Glaus ripped a 2-1 Kelvim Escobar pitch down the left-field line to score Erstad and Salmon. Escobar had a 1.93 earned-run average and had struck out 25 and walked five in 18 2/3 innings.

“That’s a big hit, especially coming off a tough reliever having a great year,” Scioscia said. “He’s been lights out.”

Glaus’ double was one of only two clutch hits by the Angels, who went two for 11 with runners in scoring position. The other was Orlando Palmeiro’s RBI single to center in the seventh, which scored Adam Kennedy from second to tie the game, 2-2.

Ortiz, the Angels’ unpredictable right-hander, gave up two runs on four hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking three, two of them intentionally.

Ortiz did not commit any fielding errors, as he did in his last start, when his two miscues led to four unearned runs in a 7-6 loss to Detroit on May 11. He did not get rattled like he did in his previous start, when he gave up six runs on nine hits in seven innings of an 11-2 loss to the Tigers on May 5.

“We get the same Ramon every day--he’s competitive, emotional and excitable, but at times that’s a double-edged sword,” Scioscia said. “You want him to use those emotions in a positive way instead of letting them get the best of him.”

Scioscia said Ortiz could have gone longer Thursday, but his pitch count was “unusually high” by the fifth inning. Ortiz finished with 112 pitches.

“We’ll take it,” Scioscia said. “It’s a good sign that even when everything isn’t going perfectly, he gave us a great start.”

So did Blue Jay right-hander Joey Hamilton, who needed only 89 pitches to complete seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and striking out six.

The Angels set the table twice in the first three innings, but the busboys never showed to clean up. Singles by David Eckstein and Erstad and a walk to Salmon loaded the bases with no outs in the first.

Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to left field, giving the Angels a 1-0 lead, but Hamilton struck out Glaus and Wally Joyner to end the inning.

The Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead in the third when Shannon Stewart singled, Alex Gonzalez walked and Delgado, who had a career .462 (six for 13) average with two homers against Ortiz, lined a two-out, two-run double over Anderson’s head in left.

The Angels threatened again in the third when Eckstein and Erstad led off with singles, but Salmon bounced into a double play and Anderson flied out.