Colon’s Injury Mars Victory

A touchdown, extra point and field goal in the second inning Wednesday wiped out the deficit caused by Bartolo Colon’s brief and unsightly start, in which the Angels right-hander gave up four runs and four hits, including two home runs, in the first inning against Tampa Bay.

But the Angels couldn’t fully revel in their rare offensive outburst, a 10-run, nine-hit second inning that catapulted them to a 15-6 victory in Tropicana Field and kept them tied with Oakland atop the American League West.

Their ace, the 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner and a driving force behind two division-winning teams, is headed back to the shelf.

Colon said he began feeling “a pinching sensation” in his elbow during his second warm-up pitch in the bullpen and he was unable to throw his breaking ball in the first, when he gave up Rocco Baldelli’s two-run home run and Ty Wigginton’s solo homer.

Manager Mike Scioscia considered sending Colon out for the second inning, but when it took the Angels 34 minutes to send 15 batters to the plate in the top half of the inning, Colon’s elbow stiffened and he was replaced by Kevin Gregg.

X-rays were negative, and Colon, who sat out the first two months this season because of an inflamed shoulder, was diagnosed with an irritated elbow. But Colon says his elbow has been sore for three days, and there was a chance he could return to the disabled list, with left-hander Joe Saunders probably taking his rotation spot.

“Let’s wait a couple of days; I don’t want to jump to any conclusions,” Colon said through an interpreter.

Asked if the elbow problem was a result of him overcompensating for his shoulder injury, Colon said, “Definitely. Yes. I’m finishing pitches with my elbow because I’m trying to protect my shoulder.”

Scioscia said he could tell something was wrong with Colon because “the ball wasn’t coming out of his hand well.”

Fortunately for the Angels, the ball was coming off their bats just fine.

The Angels, who improved to 17-5 in July, raked six pitchers for a season-high 20 hits, and their 15 runs were a season high. Three pitchers threw 56 pitches in the second, an inning in which every Angel scored and two -- Chone Figgins and Maicer Izturis -- each had two hits.

Juan Rivera, who is batting .366 with nine home runs and 22 runs batted in this month, had three hits, including two two-run doubles, and Izturis had three hits and three RBIs.

Robb Quinlan had two hits and three RBIs, rookie Howie Kendrick had two hits, including his first big league homer, and the Angels, who were three for 14 with runners in scoring position in Tuesday’s loss, were 11 for 25 on Wednesday.

“That’s a good week,” Scioscia said of the Angels’ performance in the clutch. “That’s something we’ve struggled with all year.”

The Angels were one of baseball’s worst offensive teams three months into the season, and much of their focus before Monday’s trading deadline has been on acquiring an impact bat.

But contributions began pouring in this month, in which the Angels are hitting .307 and averaging 6.2 runs a game. Now, there seems to be a feeling that a few step-up performances from non-marquee players might equal the impact of one booming bat.

“Adding one bat would have been nice, but the reality is, the first few months, we were looking for 2 1/2 bats,” Scioscia said. “But Juan has come on, and Vladimir [Guerrero] has regained his stroke. [Rookie catcher Mike] Napoli was doing it for a while, and now Howie and Quinlan are hitting.

“We’re getting depth in the lineup that we haven’t seen in a while, and hopefully G.A. can add to it,” Scioscia said, referring to the injury-plagued Garret Anderson. “It’s always nice to add one bat, but right now we’ve filled a lot of holes with guys getting into their game.”