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Tuesday, Apr. 11 10:05pm ET
Anaheim holds off Toronto rally | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- When Ramon Ortiz struck out Raul Mondesi and Carlos Delgado with runners on second and third in the third inning, the Anaheim Angels' pitcher beamed and bounced off the mound. Angels manager Mike Scioscia had reason to smile himself, as Ortiz, pitching despite a shoulder problem, threw five steady innings Tuesday night in Anaheim's 5-4 victory over Toronto. "When push came to shove, he made some tremendous pitches. I think we're all pleased with his velocity," Scioscia said after Ortiz gave up two runs on seven hits in five innings in his first outing of the season. "He took a big step. That was a great effort for a guy who has been through what he has the past month." Ortiz, 24, a right-hander, is pitching despite a partial tear in his labrum, the cartilage surrounding the shoulder socket. The injury was discovered on March 7, and he threw just six innings in spring training. He then made a couple of rehabilitation appearances in the minors, where he threw without pain. The injury is not believed to be worsened by pitching, and his fastball against the Blue Jays was consistently in the low 90-mph range. Ortiz (1-0) threw 83 pitches and gave up a two-run homer to Mondesi in the fifth. He walked four and struck out four. "I felt very good," Ortiz said. "There was no pain and my shoulder feels strong. My fastball was good, but I was not happy with my location." Darin Erstad hit a three-run homer off Kelvim Escobar (0-2) in the second, and Anaheim's Mo Vaughn hit his first homer of the year, a solo shot into the left-field seats leading off the third to give the Angels a 5-0 lead. The Blue Jays trimmed it to 5-4 with runs in the seventh and eight innings. They scored in the seventh when Mondesi singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch by Lou Pote, who had just entered the game. In the eighth, Jose Cruz Jr. tripled and scored on Shannon Stewart's single. Troy Percival struck out the side in the ninth for his second save. "That was the best I've felt in a long time," said Percival, who is coming back from shoulder surgery. "I hadn't done a very good job of being aggressive before." Erstad, who went 2-for-4 and is 17-for-35 this season with two homers and 10 RBIs, drove a 2-1 breaking ball from Escobar over the wall in left to put Anaheim up 4-0 in the second inning. Garret Anderson doubled to open the Angels' second and scored on Troy Glaus' single. Escobar, who turned 24 Tuesday, threw with good velocity, his fastball reaching 93 mph, but his pitches lacked movement and he lasted just 3 1/3 innings, giving up five runs and eight hits. Toronto manager Jim Fregosi at least found consolation in the fact that the Blue Jays rallied after falling behind early. "We haven't been hitting. When we got down 5-0, everyone could have packed it in and gone home," Fregosi said. "We didn't. We battled back. There were some encouraging things." Among the good signs was the performance by relievers Lance Painter, Pedro Borbon and Billy Koch, who were perfect through 4 2/3 innings. "Both Borbon and Painter needed something positive to take out of the game," Fregosi said. Ortiz was 2-3 with a 6.52 ERA over 48 1/3 innings as a rookie with the Angels last season. The start against the Blue Jays was the 10th of his career. Game notesThe Angels, who have won five of six after losing their first to games to the New York Yankees, are two games above .500 for the first time since 1998. They never reached that mark last year, when they struggled most of the season and finished 72-90. ... Escobar was 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA against the Angels in two starts and two wins last season, and was 3-1 with a 1.13 ERA against them in his career before getting rocked Tuesday night. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Toronto Clubhouse Anaheim Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 13 Minnesota 4
Anaheim 5
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