Ortiz Is Sharp on Dull Day

If the Angels can’t trade for Randy Johnson this week, they might not trade for a starting pitcher at all. They’re not sure Kris Benson is any better than Ramon Ortiz, a point Ortiz himself drove home in Sunday’s 6-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

Ortiz, making his first start in a month, held the Mariners to three runs over seven innings. The Angels could hope for no better from Benson or any of the few other starters available in a thin market, and they aren’t interested in outbidding other teams by offering multiple prospects.

Unless, that is, they can get Johnson. The Angels would have to surrender one of the jewels of their farm system to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and they would have to persuade Johnson to agree to the trade, but owner Arte Moreno doesn’t like to take no for an answer.

“He’s going to be a huge addition to any staff,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Randy Johnson is obviously in a different class.”

Johnson is a five-time Cy Young Award winner, second to Roger Clemens on the all-time list. Ortiz is in the much larger class of decent major league starters. In May, the Angels deemed him their sixth-best and angered him by sending him to the bullpen.

“It’s not easy when you pitch in the bullpen and you come out and start a game,” Ortiz said.

He made it look pretty easy, walking one and completing his seven innings in 96 pitches. Dave Hansen hit a two-run home run and Bucky Jacobsen a solo shot, but Ortiz retired 10 consecutive batters at one point.

He worked so effectively, and quickly, that second baseman Adam Kennedy had to rush to the mound in the fourth inning and stop him from pitching. Ortiz, ready to start the inning, had no idea that Jose Guillen had not yet returned to left field.

Guillen had homered in the top of the fourth, the Angels’ only run off Joel Pineiro.

The score turned lopsided in the eighth inning, when the Mariners scored three times and Angel reliever Kevin Gregg tied a regular-season record by throwing four wild pitches in one inning.

“I just couldn’t locate anything,” Gregg said.

Gregg nonetheless put himself in distinguished company. The only other major leaguers to throw four wild pitches in an inning are Hall of Famers: Walter Johnson, in 1914, and knuckleballer Phil Niekro, in 1979.

So, with five days to the non-waiver trading deadline, the Angels might do nothing if they don’t get Johnson. With two scouts from the New York Yankees -- and none from the Angels -- in attendance Sunday, Johnson struck out 14 Colorado Rockies while pitching eight shutout innings.

The Angels might pick up a backup outfielder or designated hitter, with Garret Anderson (groin) and Vladimir Guerrero (wrist) day-to-day and Jeff DaVanon on the disabled list.

On the pitching front, they scoffed at rumors they would trade triple-A first-base prospect Casey Kotchman to Pittsburgh for Benson, who is eligible for free agency this fall. General Manager Bill Stoneman would not talk about specific players but called the concept of trading a top prospect for a rent-a-player “real short-term thinking.”

Johnson’s contract extends through 2005.

Ortiz would love to start, in Anaheim or elsewhere. With Jarrod Washburn nursing a chest injury and Aaron Sele inconsistent of late, the Angels might make just one move this week -- Ortiz, into their rotation.

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*--* Out of Control Most wild pitches in one inning: (* NL divisional playoff game) 5 Rick Ankiel, St. Louis* Oct. 3, 2000, third inning 4 Kevin Gregg, Angels July 25,2004, eighth inning 4 Phil Niekro, Atlanta Aug. 4, 1979, fifth inning 4 Walter Johnson, Washington Sept. 21, 1914, fourth inning

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