Everything Works for Angels

A day after handing the Chicago White Sox their worst loss in the franchise’s 102-year history, the Angels cut down on quantity but maintained quality.

Ramon Ortiz pitched seven strong innings in his fourth consecutive quality start as the Angels defeated the White Sox, 6-3, on Saturday night before 40,535 at Edison Field.

Ortiz (4-3) gave up three runs and seven hits in seven innings and struck out eight in his third consecutive victory. It was a marked contrast to the last time Ortiz faced the White Sox.

On Sept. 3, 2000, he gave up nine runs and eight hits in two-thirds of an inning, the shortest stint of his career.

“This year, everything is working,” Ortiz said. “My mechanics, my fastball, my changeup, my slider, all my pitches.”

Al Levine pitched a scoreless eighth and Troy Percival struck out the side for the second time in his last three appearances to record his sixth save.

The Angels, who collected a major league season-high 24 hits in their 19-0 victory over the White Sox on Friday, had 12 on Saturday.

Troy Glaus hit a two-run homer and Scott Speizio had a two-run double during a five-run first inning, Garret Anderson had two doubles and Brad Fullmer extended his hitting streak to a team-best nine games with a double in the sixth inning.

The victory assured the Angels (19-16) of their fifth consecutive series victory, a feat they had not accomplished since winning nine series in a row in 1998.

They have won 13 of their last 15 games. After going 1-8 in their first nine home games, they are now 9-2 in their last 11 at Edison Field.

“The real story these last two nights is our starting pitching,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “That is a very, very talented offensive club over there. That just underscores how our pitchers, and our starting pitchers in particular, are doing a heck of a job.”

Ortiz entered the game with opponents batting .219 against him. He had given up only three earned runs in his last 30 innings.

Nine of the 13 runs Ortiz had given up this season were scored on eight home runs, including the back-to-back solo shots he surrendered in his last start to Jose Cruz Jr. and Carlos Delgado of the Toronto Blue Jays with two out in the ninth inning.

Cruz’s homer spoiled Ortiz’s bid for his first shutout, and a home run also foiled his bid Saturday when Paul Konerko followed a double by Magglio Ordonez with a home run in the sixth inning that made the score 5-2.

Ortiz gave up one more run on a run-scoring double by Jose Valentin in the seventh before finishing his 103-pitch performance by striking out Aaron Rowand to end the inning.

Meanwhile, White Sox starter Jon Garland (4-2) was foiled in his attempt to win his fifth game in a row.

Garland, 22, is the youngest member of a White Sox rotation that counts 30-year-old Todd Ritchie as its elder statesman.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound right-hander, who was the Chicago Cubs’ No. 1 draft pick in 1997 out of Granada Hills Kennedy High, came into the game with a four-game winning streak. The streak, however, was deceptive because Garland also carried a 5.54 earned-run average and was receiving 10.37 runs of support per game, the highest average in the major leagues.

But it was the Angels who continued their recent offensive onslaught, wasting no time picking up where they left off Friday night.

After Ortiz struck out three of the four batters he faced in the first inning, Darin Erstad laced a one-out single to left field and Glaus followed with a home run to left on a 3-and-2 pitch. It was Glaus’ seventh homer.

Anderson doubled to right and, after Fullmer hit a fly ball to center field and Tim Salmon walked, Speizio hit a double down the first-base line to give the Angels a 4-0 lead. Jorge Fabregas followed with a run-scoring single to left field to give Ortiz a five-run cushion.

After the White Sox pulled to within 5-2 on Konerko’s fifth homer in the sixth, the Angels answered.

Fullmer led off the sixth with his double into the gap in right field. Garland walked Salmon and was replaced by left-hander Damaso Marte, who surrendered a run-scoring single to left by Speizio that made it 6-2.

The White Sox narrowed the margin to three runs in the seventh when Kenny Lofton hit a two-out triple and Valentin drove him in with a double.

But after conferring with pitching coach Bud Black on the mound, Ortiz struck out Rowand to end the inning.

After Levine worked the eighth, Percival struck out Jeff Liefer, Mark Johnson and Royce Clayton to end the game.