Angels’ weakness is finally exploited

A patchwork Angels rotation began to fray at the edges Wednesday night, when a fringe starter who doesn’t figure to be in Anaheim much longer failed to make it out of the second inning against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Rookie right-hander Anthony Ortega, who gave the Angels a chance to win his first two big league games, a loss and a no-decision, gave them no chance in start No. 3.

The suddenly potent Blue Jays, surprise leaders in the American League East, rocked Ortega for six runs and six hits in 1 1/3 innings of a 13-1 victory in Angel Stadium, only the second time in nine games an Angels pitcher has failed to provide a quality start.

Toronto ace Roy Halladay gave up one run and six hits in eight innings to improve to 6-1, and a Blue Jays team that leads the major leagues in runs, hits, batting average, extra-base hits and total bases racked up 15 hits.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia kept the clubhouse closed for 35 minutes after the game to conduct a series of meetings with General Manager Tony Reagins, his coaches and reliever Justin Speier, whose emotions got the best of him late in the game.

Speier gave up five runs in the eighth on a two-run single by Scott Rolen and a three-run homer to Lyle Overbay. He hit Rod Barajas with his next pitch, a forkball, and was issued a warning by plate umpire Bill Hohn.

Scioscia was ejected after arguing with Hohn, and after Speier finished the ninth, he tried to go after Hohn again, only to be stopped by hitting coach Mickey Hatcher and bench coach Ron Roenicke. Speier then exchanged words with his own coaches.

“Mickey and Ron and [pitching coach Mike] Butcher were trying to stop him from bumping an umpire and getting a suspension,” Scioscia said. “They were trying to calm him down. There’s a lot of emotions out there. That’s part of what has helped Justin have the career he’s had. But at times, you have to contain that.”

Despite playing the first month of the season with their three top pitchers -- John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar -- on the disabled list, Angels starters began Wednesday with a 3.60 earned-run average, tops in the league.

Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver, the only holdovers from last season’s rotation, have been excellent, and Dustin Moseley was solid before suffering a forearm injury in mid-April.

Shane Loux and Matt Palmer, who have combined for a 4-0 record and 2.49 earned-run average in their last four starts, have given the Angels more than they ever could have expected. But Ortega’s start Wednesday was a huge step back for the rotation and could be Ortega’s last in the big leagues for a while.

The Angels will probably use Monday’s off day to skip Ortega’s spot, and Lackey and Santana, who are scheduled to make rehabilitation starts for triple-A Salt Lake this weekend, could be activated late next week.

Ortega, the team’s top pitching prospect who was rushed to the big leagues in April because of injuries, walked Marco Scutaro to open the game, gave up a two-run home run to Aaron Hill and a single to Alex Rios.

Ortega got Vernon Wells to ground into a double play, and after Adam Lind doubled and Rolen walked, Overbay flied to right, ending the inning.

But the first four batters of the second inning reached, with Scutaro and Hill driving in runs with singles. Ortega was pulled for Rafael Rodriguez, who gave up a three-run homer to Wells that gave Toronto a 7-0 lead.

Against a lesser pitcher, with the way the Angels have been hitting -- they scored 80 runs in their previous 12 games, an average of 6.7 a game -- perhaps a seven-run deficit was not insurmountable.

But the Angels didn’t stand a chance against Halladay. The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner and five-time All-Star allowed only two runners to reach second base before losing his shutout bid on Jeff Mathis’ two-out, RBI single in the eighth.

A two-time 20-game winner, Halladay has gone at least seven innings in each of his seven starts this season.

“I don’t like facing Halladay at all,” Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said. “That’s why they call him Doc, because he performs surgery on hitters. He hits the inside and outside corners, and he gets better with age. If you foul off a pitch down the middle, you’ve missed your chance.”

--

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com