Team Has Plenty in Reserve With Ramirez

Julio Ramirez arrived in the Angel clubhouse Saturday afternoon and found a gift on the chair in front of his locker.

It was the Angels’ dugout lineup card from the previous night’s game, a 19-0 rout of the White Sox in which Ramirez delivered a pinch-hit home run during the sixth inning.

It was the first homer of Ramirez’s career and it came against the team that released him in spring training because of a logjam of outfielders.

“I wasn’t thinking about a home run,” said Ramirez, an outfielder who was promoted from triple-A Salt Lake on May 2. “I’m still not thinking about hitting [home runs]. If they come, they come. But that was nice.”

Ramirez, 24, has made the most of his opportunities with the Angels.

In his Angel debut on May 2 at Cleveland, he bunted for a base hit and threw out a runner at the plate from right field.

On Thursday, he hit a two-run triple in a 7-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

On Friday, he pinch-hit for Darin Erstad in the sixth inning with a runner on and hit the first pitch he saw from reliever Mike Porzio into the seats beyond the left-field fence. Ramirez became the first Angel player since Damion Easley in 1993 to hit his first career homer as a pinch-hitter. He also had a run-scoring single in the seventh.

“That’s what that role really calls for--someone who can maybe sit for awhile, come on and have a good bat,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He certainly showed that last night.”

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Designated hitter Brad Fullmer, acquired in an off-season trade with the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Brian Cooper, was relieved to hit his first homer for the Angels in Friday night’s game.

It was Fullmer’s first homer in 144 at-bats dating to last season.

“It’s nice to not have a zero up there, but at the same time, being too conscious of homers kind of got me into the struggles I’ve been having,” Fullmer said. “I’ve just been trying to get back to being more compact and hitting the ball solid.”

Fullmer had two other hits Friday, including a run-scoring single, to raise his average to .269. He extended his hitting streak to a club-high nine games Saturday with a lead-off double in the sixth inning against Jon Garland in the Angels’ 6-3 victory over the White Sox.

“I still have a lot of work to do to get really locked in,” Fullmer said. “But I’m getting there.”

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The White Sox’s 19-0 defeat on Friday was the worst loss in the franchise’s 102-year history.

The White Sox had previously lost by 17 runs three times, the most recent occurring on Sept. 5, 1976 in an 18-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

TODAY

ANGELS’

JARROD WASHBURN

(3-2, 3.86 ERA)

vs.

WHITE SOX’S

GARY GLOVER

(0-2, 2.70 ERA)

At Edison Field, 1 p.m.

TV--Fox Sports Net.

Radio--KPLS (830), XPRS (1090).

Update--Washburn gave up one hit and struck out a season-high seven batters in seven shutout innings on Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers. But it was all for naught as the Angels lost, 3-0. Glover began the season as the White Sox’s primary set-up man before he was named the No. 5 starter on May 3. He gave up three runs and two hits in three innings in his first start on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers, but did not earn a decision in Chicago’s 11-6 victory.

Tickets--(714) 663-9000.