Angels’ Loss Shows Ortiz in Soft Focus

There could be a soft underbelly to the Angel rotation this season, and it has nothing to do with the waistline of any starting pitcher.

The Angels are confident that ace Bartolo Colon, left-hander Jarrod Washburn and right-hander Kelvim Escobar will provide enough quality starts to keep them in playoff contention. But from there, the starting pitching seems a little dicey.

Ramon Ortiz did nothing to shake off his shaky spring in his 2004 debut Friday, getting rocked for seven runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings of the Angels’ 12-4 loss to the Texas Rangers before 50,370 at the Ballpark in Arlington, the largest regular-season crowd in stadium history.

John Lackey, the No. 5 starter who will pitch against the Rangers tonight, had a 9.00 earned-run average in exhibition play and must rebound from his 10-16 record last season to prove he is rotation-worthy.

And the pitcher the Angels kept in their bullpen as insurance in case a starter was injured or ineffective -- Aaron Sele -- didn’t exactly shine Friday in his first relief appearance, giving up five runs and eight hits, including Hank Blalock’s three-run home run and Kevin Mench’s two-run shot, in 3 1/3 innings.

“If we’re going to reach our goal we need five [rotation] spots to work like a machine and crank out one good start after another,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “If there’s a weak link in that chain, it’s going to show up, but we have five guys who we’re confident enough in to give us those starts.”

Second baseman Adam Kennedy staked the Angels to a 3-1 lead with a three-run home run in the top of the second Friday, but Ortiz gave it back -- and more -- in the bottom of the second, yielding a home run to Laynce Nix, doubles to Gerald Laird and Michael Young and an RBI single to Blalock.

Ortiz was tagged for three more hits in the third, and Sele came on to make only the second relief appearance of his 11-year career. Young greeted him with an RBI single, Blalock smashed a three-run home run to cap a five-run rally, and the Angels were on the way to their first loss of the season after a three-game sweep in Seattle.

Texas right-hander R.A. Dickey went seven innings, giving up three runs -- all unearned -- and six hits, striking out five and walking none to gain the win. He is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA against the Angels since 2003.

Ortiz’s 2004 ERA: 22.63.

“My command was not good today -- I couldn’t throw any of my pitches for strikes,” Ortiz said. “It’s tough when you throw ball one, ball two. Those are good counts for the hitter. I felt good. I just couldn’t throw strikes.”

Scioscia is not about to panic. Inconsistency has been a career-long trademark of Ortiz, who can look like Pedro Martinez one start and Mike Maroth the next; who can be cruising with a shutout through six innings and then give up four runs in the seventh.

Ortiz had a career-worst 5.20 ERA last season but found a way to go 16-13. He was 15-9 with a 3.77 ERA in 2002, and 13-11 with a 4.36 ERA in 2001 despite some rough patches.

“You look at Ramon’s history, and there have been some tough stretches in seasons when he won 15 or 16 games,” Scioscia said. “There’s a lot of brilliance in between. No one is going to rush to conclusions or make any premature decisions. Today just wasn’t his day.”

That potential for brilliance is what led Scioscia to choose the 30-year-old right-hander over Sele for his rotation, even though Sele was a far more consistent starter this spring.

“For some stretches in spring training, Ramon threw as well as he ever has,” Scioscia said. “There were a couple other innings where he struggled....

“Today, from the beginning, he wasn’t locating pitches the way he needed to. He was in too many hitter’s counts, and they didn’t miss any pitches.

“To his credit, he made some good pitches, but he didn’t do it in a consistent enough fashion to get out of some innings. That’s not what we’re looking for.”