Angels Get to Enjoy Hit Parade

The Angels honored Brian Downing on Saturday night.

And then they emulated him.

On the night they gave out bobblehead dolls of Downing, the franchise’s leader with 1,588 hits, the Angels used their own bats to smash 16 hits, including a record-tying seven in a row, in a 9-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Edison Field.

Angel right-hander Ramon Ortiz (11-9) quieted the Oriole bats by pitching a five-hitter for the first shutout of his career.

If there was a bobblehead awarded for this night, it would go to outfielder Orlando Palmeiro, who tied his all-time best with four hits and drove in three runs. Catcher Bengie Molina contributed a three-run homer and second baseman Adam Kennedy hit a two-run shot.

“This team is not built around the home run,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We execute well, we put runners in motion and we have a lot of depth. When our No. 9 hitter [Kennedy] is hitting [.319] and our No. 8 hitter hits a three-run homer, it shows the contributions that are being made from all angles of this lineup.”

Yet for all their efforts, the Angels once again found themselves running in place in terms of the division race. The victory was the team’s third straight and fourth in its last five games, but that pales in comparison to the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics, who won their 17th straight Saturday night.

While the Angels again failed to move upward, they added to their wild-card lead Saturday as the Seattle Mariners lost to the Kansas City Royals to drop 2 1/2 games behind the Angels.

First the Angels teed off on Baltimore starter and loser Scott Erickson (5-12) Saturday, getting the seven straight hits off him in the second inning, leading to six runs.

The Angels have gotten seven straight hits three other times, all three coming against the New York Yankees.

This time, first baseman Scott Spiezio began the barrage with a line drive that ricocheted off the glove of second baseman Jerry Hairston. Brad Fullmer followed with a single.

Then, on a 3-2 count, Molina hit a fly ball down the left-field line that just made it into the hands of the fans a few rows back and a few rows on the fair side of the foul pole. It was Molina’s third home run of the year.

Erickson had taken the mound 16-6 lifetime against the Angels, but he also began with a 5.25 overall earned-run average this season, and that proved to be the more accurate indicator of how things would go this night.

Left in after Molina’s homer, Erickson gave up singles in succession to Kennedy, David Eckstein and Darin Erstad.

Still there was no hook from Manager Mike Hargrove.

Finally, after Palmeiro doubled to the wall in right-center, driving in three more runs, Hargrove mercifully took the ball from his battered right-hander.

But the Angels weren’t done yet.

Eckstein, Erstad and Palmeiro hit three consecutive singles in the fourth inning off reliever Chris Brock to load the bases and Garret Anderson followed with a sacrifice fly to center. It was Anderson’s 100th RBI, the third straight season he has reached that milestone.

“He’s the guy we want to set the table for,” Scioscia said.

In the fifth inning, with Molina aboard on a walk, Kennedy hit his fourth home run of the year into the right-field seats.

While the outcome seemed a foregone conclusion by then, there was still plenty of drama because Ortiz was mowing down batter after batter without even the threat of a hit.

He retired the first 16 before catcher Geronimo Gil hit a soft liner that dropped fair in right field, eliciting a collective groan from the crowd of 38,563.

For the only time all night, Ortiz seemed to lose his concentration, giving up singles to Hairston and Melvin Mora to load the bases.

But Ortiz regained the touch, striking out Luis Lopez and retiring Chris Richard on a fly ball.

“He was aggressive. He went after the hitters,” said Scioscia. “What a great ballgame.”

Even in statistic-crazy baseball, no numbers are kept on the number of times a pitcher goes to his cap, his shirt, moves back and forth on the mound. But Ortiz knows that the less he does that sort of thing, the faster he pitches, the more he maintains his rhythm, the better the results.

Saturday, he maintained a smooth rhythm throughout except for that sixth inning.