Angels Again Bottom Out

In only his second start as an Angel, Bartolo Colon will have the chance today to prove his mettle as a staff ace.

No. 1 starters are supposed to stop losing streaks, put a chill in the sizzling bats of an opponent and clean up the messes sometimes left by the bottom of the rotation.

Considering what transpired on the Ballpark in Arlington mound for the Angels these last two games, Colon, who signed a four-year, $51-million deal this winter, will have his work cut out for him.

The Texas Rangers shelled starter John Lackey for seven runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings Saturday night en route to a 12-6 victory over the Angels in front of a crowd of 30,331.

The Rangers pounded out 18 hits, including home runs by Hank Blalock, Mark Teixeira and Michael Young, to deliver the second straight early knockout of an Angel starter, and have won the first two games of a four-game series.

Friday, Angel right-hander Ramon Ortiz was rocked for seven runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings of a 12-4 loss. In two games, a Ranger team that was a consensus pick to finish last in the American League West has amassed 24 runs and 36 hits, including six home runs, against an Angel team that many picked to finish first in the division.

And today, these rejuvenated Rangers are Colon’s problem.

“We don’t expect Bartolo to say, ‘Everyone jump on my shoulders and let’s go,’ ” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He might do that, but we need five guys in the rotation to pitch well. Our confidence has not waned because of a couple of rough starts. We’re going to have five guys doing what they need to do.”

Saturday seemed like an extension of spring training for Lackey, who had a 9.00 earned-run average in exhibition play. The right-hander put the Angels in an immediate four-run hole, giving up a leadoff double to Young in the first, a walk to Blalock, an RBI double to Brad Fullmer and a three-run homer to center by Teixeira.

The Angels roughed up Ranger starter Kenny Rogers with a six-run fourth, which included Jose Guillen’s two-run single, Jose Molina’s three-run triple and Adam Kennedy’s RBI single. But Lackey fumbled it away in the bottom of the fourth, giving up a two-run home run to Young, a double to Blalock and an RBI single to Fullmer.

A 6-4 Angel lead had turned into a 7-6 deficit, and the Rangers pulled away with a run off reliever Ben Weber in the sixth and four more off Scot Shields in the seventh and eighth innings.

“The most disappointing thing is the guys gave me a second chance, they scored six runs, and I ended up giving the lead right back,” Lackey said. “I had some problems with location, but they hit some good pitches too. It’s just the sign of a hot team, I guess.”

Both Ortiz and Lackey said they felt fine physically, and control doesn’t seem to be an issue. Ortiz walked only one batter Friday, and Lackey walked two Saturday.

“It’s a matter of making quality pitches in the strike zone,” pitching coach Bud Black said. “We’re throwing strikes, but they’ve just been a little elevated. As a starter, you have to locate your pitches. If you don’t, it can catch up with you.”

That may force the Angels to play catch-up on a number of nights, and as explosive as their offense appears to be, it probably will be asking too much of the team’s hitters to out-slug the kinds of mistakes Angel pitchers have made the last two games.

That won’t stop them from trying, though. Down, 9-6, the Angels threatened in the eighth Saturday when they loaded the bases with one out on Darin Erstad’s single and walks to Vladimir Guerrero and Troy Glaus.

Ranger reliever Jeff Nelson seemed a little rattled when a fastball slipped out of his hand and sailed about two feet behind the head of Guillen, but Nelson whiffed Guillen with his patented sweeping slider on the next pitch and got Tim Salmon to fly to center to end the threat.

“We haven’t executed the way I know we can the last two games,” Scioscia said. “We’re going to have to change that trend.”