Solo Act Doesn’t Beat Ortiz

MILWAUKEE — When the All-Star game is held here at Miller Park on July 9, Angel right-hander Ramon Ortiz might be invited to participate.

In the home run derby.

Ortiz leads the majors in home runs allowed, and he added to that total Friday night by surrendering his 24th, but the Angels still beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-4.

So despite the home run, his performance brought a smile to his face, to the face of his manager, Mike Scioscia, and to many of his teammates.

With the combination of an overpowering fastball, a sharp curve, a deceptive changeup, masterful control, unwavering focus and flawless timing, Ortiz has become the Angels’ top pitcher, those home runs nothing more than faint blemishes on his shining record.

Take Friday, for example.

Yes, Ortiz gave up a third-inning home run to catcher Robert Machado in front of 20,289. But Ortiz also pitched seven strong innings in the opener of a three-game series. He gave up two runs and five hits, striking out seven and walking one to improve to 8-5, his victory total leading the team.

The high home-run total hasn’t hurt Ortiz because 19 of the 24 he’s surrendered have come with the bases empty.

Machado’s home run, the first hit given up by Ortiz after retiring the first seven batters, was a solo shot.

So were the four home runs Ortiz gave up last week against the Dodgers.

“The solo shots don’t mean anything,” said Angel outfielder Garret Anderson. “It means he’s throwing strikes, not walking guys. That’s when you get in trouble, when you walk guys. Solo home runs? I couldn’t care less.”

Mention of the home run brought a smile to Ortiz.

“One home run is OK,” he said. “Three? Four? Omigosh.”

Now in his sixth big league season, Ortiz is more than halfway to last season’s 13 victories, the most in his career. He says his success begins not with his arm, but with his head.

“I have good focus, good concentration,” he said. “I don’t overthrow anymore.”

Catcher Bengie Molina, sees the difference.

“In years’ past,” Molina said, “he always worried about the last pitch. This year, he’s calm even after he gives up a home run.”

It helped Friday, of course, that Ortiz had strong backing. In all, the Angels collected 12 hits, highlighted by home runs from Brad Fullmer, his eighth, and Troy Glaus, his 14th.

The Angels scored runs in the second and third innings, and blew the game open in the fourth with five more; the seven runs coming off starter Ruben Quevedo (3-6).

It doesn’t hurt the Angels to be playing a bad team that has hit a low this week. Last in the NL Central at 26-47, the Brewers lost outfielder Geoff Jenkins this week when he slid into third base at a bad angle, dislocated an ankle and damaged ligaments. He’s out at least two months.

That forced the Brewers to play Matt Stairs on Friday night even though he has yet to fully recover from a hamstring injury. His slowness afoot was evident.

For the Angels, the timing couldn’t be better. Having hit a bump in their race for the AL West title by losing four in a row, they salvaged the last game of three against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday and began a stretch of eight games over seven days against two last-place teams Friday. After two more against the Brewers, the Angels will play five in Texas against the Rangers, last in the AL West.

Friday night, the Angels attacked with balanced hitting. Anderson, Glaus, Fullmer, David Eckstein and Darin Erstad each had two hits.

Scioscia reserved special praise for Anderson, who is hitting .309. His manager called him, “the best kept secret in the league.”

Anderson, however, wasn’t buying into that.

“That’s up to other people to say stuff like that,” he said. “I’m not going to parade myself around.”

Told that it merely meant he had been extremely consistent lately, Anderson, modest to a fault, replied, “I don’t know what you’ve been watching.”

One thing Anderson won’t dispute is that he has been watching home run ball after home run ball sail over his head with Ortiz on the mound.

And, strangely enough, enjoying the view.