Losing is not an option for Saunders

Joe Saunders returned to the Angels from triple-A Salt Lake on Friday with an able left arm, an open mind and a short-term vision.

“I don’t know what the plan is, what’s going on with Bart,” Saunders said of Bartolo Colon, whose triceps injury created a temporary rotation void. “All I know is I’m going to pitch my ... off Saturday night, and whatever happens, happens.”

Saunders did as he predicted, allowing two runs and four hits in six innings of the Angels’ 7-4 victory over Baltimore in Angel Stadium, and what happened next was pretty much what he expected.

The left-hander was optioned to Salt Lake after the game to clear room for Garret Anderson, who will start in left field today after missing five weeks because of a hip injury.

“You never really want to know what’s coming, but you kind of know in the back of your mind what’s coming,” said Saunders (3-0). “It was a little easier this time. I was caught by surprise the last time.”

Saunders opened the season in the rotation and went 2-0 with a 1.96 earned-run average in three starts, but after throwing six shutout innings to beat Seattle on April 20, he was sent to triple A to make room for Colon, who came back from a rotator-cuff tear sooner than expected.

Saunders, who went 7-3 with a 4.71 ERA in 13 starts for the Angels last season, is essentially the sixth man in the rotation, a guy the Angels rely on when one of their starters gets hurt, an extremely important role from the team’s perspective but one that requires many hours at triple A.

“It’s nice to know when they need someone they’re going to call on me,” the 25-year-old Saunders said. “But it’s also disheartening to know that I can pitch here, to know I belong here, but I haven’t had the opportunity to stay here.”

Saunders could be back soon. Colon will resume throwing Monday, but if he can’t make his next start Friday in St. Louis, the Angels will put him on the disabled list and recall Saunders.

“Making the major leagues is one thing,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “The real challenge is putting your footprint down, establishing yourself in the big leagues. Joe is working toward that.”

His latest building block came Saturday night, when, after allowing a two-run double to Ramon Hernandez in the second inning, Saunders allowed only four baserunners from the third through sixth innings.

The Angels backed him with an opportunistic and aggressive offense that supplemented its seven hits with seven walks -- Orioles pitchers lead the American League with 232 walks -- and five stolen bases.

Catcher Mike Napoli snapped an 0-for-13 slump with a two-run home run, a single and three runs, and third baseman Chone Figgins continued to emerge from a season-long funk with two hits, an RBI and a run, as the Angels won for the 13th time in 17 games.

Figgins was batting .133 entering the series but, thanks in part to a tip from teammate Nathan Haynes, one Figgins wouldn’t divulge, he has eight hits in his last 11 at-bats, boosting his average to .198.

“It’s nothing major, just something he thought might work,” Figgins said. “That, and I found a few holes.”

Figgins capped a three-run second, which included RBI singles by Erick Aybar and Shea Hillenbrand, with an RBI fielder’s choice.

After Baltimore right fielder Nick Markakis robbed Aybar of a two-run homer with a leaping grab above the right-field wall in the third, Napoli hit one where Markakis wasn’t -- in the bleachers above the wall in right-center for a two-run homer, his sixth of the season, and a 5-2 lead.

Saunders held the lead and kept his unbeaten record intact, which might not be such a good thing.

“We told Joe, maybe he has to lose a game to stay here,” Scioscia said. “He did a heck of a job.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com