Colon Is on Target, Beats Indians, 2-0

It began with a low rumble, it quickly gathered momentum and volume, and within moments Bartolo Colon was engulfed by a resounding standing ovation, the high point coming when the Angel ace reached the top step of the third base dugout and saluted fans with a raised glove hand.

The same finicky fans who roundly booed Colon off the mound during his first-half struggles last season and booed him again in his last game here against Kansas City on April 10 were won over Wednesday night.

Colon threw eight shutout innings, giving up four hits and striking out six, to lead the Angels to a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians, and as the burly right-hander departed after completing the top of the eighth, he basked in the glow of an Angel Stadium crowd of 42,531.

“It makes me feel really good because I know I let them down last time,” Colon, who improved to 3-1 and lowered his earned-run average to 2.60, said through an interpreter. “I appreciate their response. Hopefully, I can do this some more.”

Colon, who showed no residue from a minor ankle injury suffered in his start Friday night in Oakland, had to be in peak form to out-duel right-hander Jake Westbrook, whose hard-luck season continued Wednesday night.

The 2004 American League All-Star gave up only five hits in eight innings and has a 3.81 ERA after four starts, but he fell to 0-4 because of poor run support.

The Angels scored the only run they would need on Darin Erstad’s two-out single in the third, and Chone Figgins provided some breathing room for closer Francisco Rodriguez with a homer in the eighth. Rodriguez struck out two during a one-two-three ninth for his third save.

Only twice was Colon in any danger, in the first and third innings, when the Indians put runners on first and second with two outs. Colon got Casey Blake to ground to shortstop to end the first, but escaping the third-inning jam was trickier.

Coco Crisp doubled with one out, Alex Cora flied to left field and Victor Martinez walked. Up stepped cleanup batter Travis Hafner, who was a one-man wrecking crew during Cleveland’s two-game sweep in Anaheim on July 19-20, knocking in 11 runs in the two games and smacking three homers in a 14-5 Indian victory July 20.

Colon hardly flinched, retiring Hafner on a fly to right field.

“I wasn’t thinking about what he did last season,” said Colon, who allowed only one leadoff hitter to reach base Wednesday night. “Even though he’s a dangerous hitter, I knew if I made my pitches I could get him out.”

Colon looked dominant when he struck out the side in the second, retiring Ben Broussard on a 93-mph fastball, Aaron Boone on a 96-mph fastball and Grady Sizemore on a 95-mph fastball, an inning that resembled the power display Colon put on Friday, when he gave up one run and two hits in seven innings against the A’s.

But Colon was more of a pitcher Wednesday night, spotting his fastball on both corners and mixing in more changeups and sliders to keep the Indians off balance.

“He used a combination of everything and got some big outs with off-speed pitches,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, “but first and foremost, he was about fastball command.”

While Colon’s fastball was consistently in the 94- to-97-mph range Friday, he seemed to do his best work Wednesday in the 90- to 93-mph range.

In addition to calling an excellent game behind the plate, Jose Molina sparked an Angel really in the third inning when he grounded a one-out single to center.

Molina took second on Figgins’ groundout, and Westbrook jumped ahead of Erstad, 1 and 2. But Erstad stroked an outside pitch into left field to drive in Molina for a 1-0 lead. Of Erstad’s 19 hits, 11 have come with two strikes.