Colon Can Get Some R&R; Now

Bartolo Colon put in a good day’s work Wednesday. He grinded through eight innings against the Cleveland Indians, using his changeup to get out of some dicey moments early, then relying on his fastball at the finish.

Colon’s pitching, after only three days of rest, didn’t go to waste when the Angels scraped out two runs in the ninth inning for a 2-1 victory over the Indians in front of an announced 19,030 in Jacobs Field.

“We’re really happy about getting this one,” said catcher Bengie Molina, whose sacrifice fly in the ninth drove in Chone Figgins with the go-ahead run. “Bart pitched his butt off. He deserved this.”

Colon (5-3) is accustomed to working without a net. The Angels have scored 15 runs in his last six starts and seemed to go out of their way to make Colon earn the victory.

Jake Westbrook (1-7) began the game having failed to get out of the fourth inning in three of his last four starts -- compiling an 11.15 earned-run average in that span -- but facing Angel batters must have boosted his confidence.

Westbrook retired 20 consecutive batters, allowing only one ball out of the infield, after Steve Finley’s second-inning single. That, though, may have lulled Manager Eric Wedge into a false sense of security. He stuck with Westbrook in the ninth instead of handing the game to closer Bob Wickman.

With one out and two strikes on Adam Kennedy, Westbrook’s game unraveled. Kennedy worked the count to 3 and 2, then singled to left.

“That put [Westbrook] in an uncomfortable position he hadn’t been in today, pitching from the stretch,” said Figgins, who followed with a hit.

After Figgins, Westbrook was replaced by Arthur Rhodes, who gave up a single to Darin Erstad that drove in Kennedy and sent Figgins to third. Molina, pinch hitting, hit a fly to right field to give the Angels the lead.

“That was a great at-bat by Adam,” Figgins said. “B.C. and Adam were the guys today.”

B.C. -- Colon -- put in the more sustained effort.

He gave up a run-scoring double to Jody Gerut in the fourth inning, but otherwise held the Indians at bay.

“My changeup got me right early in the game,” Colon said. “I’d use it and I would feel right again. I went with the fastball later in the game to get it done.”

Whatever the mix, Colon gave the Angels more than they could have hoped for working on three days of rest. He went five-plus innings, throwing 88 pitches, against Detroit in a rain-delayed game Saturday.

“I credit [Manager] Mike Scioscia and [pitching coach] Bud Black, because they told me right away I would be doing this,” Colon said. “That allowed me to go through my regular preparations.”

Colon was far from overpowering -- he struck out only three -- but he was able to make big pitches at key moments. He got out of a two-on, one-out situation by getting a double play to end the first inning. He stranded two runners in the second and left runners in scoring position in the fourth and eighth innings.

Still, he was looking at a nice-try-but-you-lose afternoon until the ninth.

“It wouldn’t have been frustrating, as much as feeling like, ‘Oh my gosh, he beat me,’ ” Colon said. “You can’t get frustrated when the other guy pitches well. But I’m glad my teammates came around and picked me up.”