Angels Are All Business

The Angels were not swaggering after their 15-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners Friday night at Edison Field.

One victory in their last 13 home games against the defending American League West champions is nothing to boast about.

Still, there was no discounting the boost in confidence the Angels provided themselves and a sellout crowd of 43,407 with their sharp performance against the Mariners in the opener of a three-game series.

Right-hander Ramon Ortiz outpitched Seattle ace Freddy Garcia and was backed by a 20-hit attack that helped the Angels move to within three games of the first-place Mariners.

“The one thing we were able to do was put pressure every inning on a very good pitcher,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Tim Salmon went five for five with a three-run homer against reliever Mark Watson during an eight-run sixth inning. Salmon also had a sacrifice fly and finished with five runs batted in.

Garret Anderson had two doubles, a single and drove in two runs and David Eckstein had three hits and three RBIs. Darin Erstad returned to the lineup after missing three games and had two hits and scored three runs. Designated hitter Brad Fullmer had two hits and two RBIs.

That was more than enough for Ortiz (9-7), who rebounded from a horrible start last Sunday at Kansas City, giving up two runs and seven hits in seven innings against the Mariners.

“I needed this game,” said Ortiz, who won for the first time since June 21.

It was a pivotal victory for a team that overcame the worst start in franchise history to climb back into the race for the AL West title.

That road to recovery was forged, for the most part, against teams outside the division. So the Angels were eager to test themselves against a team that beat them 15 times in 19 games last season, swept them in four games at Edison Field April 8-11 this year and won two of three at Seattle April 22-24.

Before the game, Angel left-hander Jarrod Washburn did not downplay the series’ significance.

“I’m not sure if they really see us as a threat and I think it’s important for us to go out there and show them that we are,” said Washburn, who will start the series finale on Sunday. “We’re here and we’re for real.... Taking two out of three or sweeping this series would be huge for us and maybe open their open their eyes a little and maybe make them start worrying a little bit.”

The Angels had reason to be concerned with Garcia on the mound for the Mariners.

The All-Star right-hander entered the game 6-1 in nine career starts against the Angels and 4-0 at Edison Field. His 1.84 earned-run average against the Angels was his lowest against any American League team other than the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

But the Angels scored twice in the first inning, three times in the fourth and once in the fifth before Garcia was replaced by Watson, who have up the eight runs in the sixth.

Garcia (11-6) gave up 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings, his third-shortest outing this season.

“He was throwing hard,” said Salmon, who had five hits for the first time since May 13, 1994, when he did it against the Mariners at Seattle. “Any time you can chip away and keep building and get a run here and there and have Ramon shut them down, that was the difference.”

Ortiz came into the game winless in his last four starts, including Sunday’s disastrous outing at Kansas City, where he was bombed for nine runs and seven hits in two innings.

But Ortiz gave up only run-scoring singles to Dan Wilson in the second inning and Mark McLemore in the seventh. He struck out eight.

“He had to work for it against a good team--it wasn’t as easy as it might have looked,” Scioscia said.

“He got a lot of support, but early in the game it could have been a lot different. They had some opportunities and he pitched out of it.”

Salmon drove in a run with a broken-bat single in the first, singled in the second and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Then he capped the eight-run sixth with his 15th homer, a three-run shot to center field, and added a single in the eighth.

Salmon, Scioscia and other Angel players were happy to get the victory, but recognized that the rest of the series is likely to be closer.

“It will be more like it usually is--a battle,” second baseman Adam Kennedy said. “We have to jump out early again. That was key.”