By Joe Haakenson, AngelsWin.com Contributor -
GAME 40 - ANGELS AT WHITE SOX
CHICAGO -- Ramon Ortiz has learned that amnesia can be a
good thing. Forgeting about a bad pitch and concentrating on the next one has
helped him become the Angels' most consistent pitcher this season.
Now, Ortiz is faced with having to forget about a bad start.
For the first time this season, Ortiz did not reach the
seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox snapped the Angels' eight-game win
streak with a 10-4 victory Saturday night before 21,122 at Comiskey Park.
Ortiz gave up six runs but only seven hits in his six
innings. However, four of the hits were home runs, including two by Frank
Thomas, one by Paul Konerko and one by John Valentin. Ortiz has allowed 13
homers this season, most in the American League.
''Today I did not have good command of the ball, the ball
was a little high,'' said Ortiz, whose ERA jumped from 2.63 to 3.30. ''When you
make a mistake, you pay. With a strong hitter, every time you throw a pitch in
the middle, that's what happens.''
Angels manager Mike Scioscia, though, is not concerned about
Ortiz's tendency to give up homers. In fact, of the 13 Ortiz has allowed, 10
have been solo shots. And Ortiz had allowed only 15 earned runs in his seven
starts going into Saturday's game.
One of Thomas' home runs on Saturday came when he broke his
bat, but muscled it out.
''You can't say the home run has killed Ramon,'' Scioscia
said. ''They've got a lot of power over there. He made a couple mistakes, but
it's not always a bad pitch. Sometimes you have to tip your cap and move on.''
The White Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning
when Konerko had an RBI single and Thomas hit a two-run homer, both coming with
two out.
''He wasn't real comfortable in the first inning,'' Angels
catcher Jorge Fabregas said of Ortiz. ''I don't know if it was the cold (48
degrees at first pitch). He had trouble locating the ball. This year we're used
to seeing him give us a dominating performance. He was just a little off
today.''
Brad Fullmer (3 for 4) got the Angels on the scoreboard with
a solo homer in the fourth, but Thomas' second homer in the bottom of the
inning made it 4-1 White Sox. RBI singles by Darin Erstad and Troy Glaus
brought the Angels to within 4-3 in the fifth, but Ortiz gave it back in the
sixth when he allowed solo homers to Konerko and Valentin.
On the homer to Konerko, Fabregas called for a fastball
inside. Ortiz wanted to throw a slider, hung it, and Konerko hit it out.
''I felt (Konerko) was waiting for it,'' Fabregas said of
the slider. ''He wanted to throw the slider. Hey, it's his game. But if the
slider's down, it's probably an out.''
The Angels scored one more run on Scott Spiezio's RBI single
in the top of the seventh before the White Sox tacked on four runs in the
bottom of the seventh off the Angels bullpen.
The Angels actually out-hit the White Sox, 11-10, but missed
run-scoring chances. Going into the game they were hitting .303 with runners in
scoring position; Saturday they went 3 for 15.
''We had a lot of opportunities,'' Scioscia said of the
offense, which had at least one runner in scoring position in every inning but
the eighth. ''Early on we had guys in scoring position but we couldn't get
runs. Those guys made some pitches.''
Their streak over, the Angels still feel good about the way they're
playing.
''Good things come to an end, but we'll start another one
(today),'' Fabregas said. ''If we thought we were going to win every one out
there, we were sadly mistaken. But we're trying to win every series.''
The Angels have won six consecutive series, and need to win
today's game to make it seven straight.
NOTEBOOK
CHICAGO -- Center fielder Darin Erstad missed getting doused
by a full cup of beer from a White Sox fan Friday as Erstad fielded a ball in
the left-center field gap. Though Erstad had a few choice words for the fan, he
said it was no big deal.
Such is the life of a major league outfielder. Erstad said
he's had golf balls, batteries and quarters thrown at him. He's only been hit
once, when a fan at Comiskey Park got him with a quarter.
While thrown objects are crossing the line, Erstad said he
doesn't mind what fans might say, no matter how personal they can get at times.
''I have no problem dealing with that stuff,'' he said.
''They paid for their ticket so they have the right to say what they want. When
I'm 50 or 60, I'm not going to be happy or sad based on what they said. But put
it this way, they'll never be invited over to my house for Christmas.''
Angels manager Mike Scioscia was a catcher during his
playing days with the Dodgers, so he didn't have to deal with thrown objects
like many outfielders do. However ...
''Don't forget, I played with the Dodgers and we played at
Candlestick Park (in San Francisco),'' Scioscia said.
The tunnel to the clubhouse there was down the right-field
line, so all the players had to walk along those seats and listen to the fans'
barbs and dodge the occasional thrown object. Scioscia said he remembers nearly
getting hit by an orange.
*
While many Angels hitters have been productive during the
club's hot stretch, DH Brad Fullmer has been as hot as any. Fullmer got off to
a slow start, trying to find his swing and was hitting just .200 on April 28.
Since then, he's hit safely in 13 of 14 games, batting .411
(23 for 56) with 12 extra-base hits and 12 RBIs to raise his season average to
.294. He went 3 for 4 with a homer and double in Saturday's loss.
''I was hitting .200 with no homers the first three weeks,
so I'm not going to say I'm not swinging the bat better,'' Fullmer said. ''But
I'm still not where I want to be. The last couple of days I've felt good at the
plate. Now it's a matter of staying consistent and staying where I'm at.''
*
Reliever Donne Wall returned to the team Saturday following
his rehab appearance Friday for Triple-A Salt Lake. Wall will be activated
either today or Monday, meaning the Angels will have to send a pitcher down,
probably Matt Wise.
