Angels, Ortiz Can’t Finish

Ramon Ortiz’s head still was spinning after Sunday night’s game, kind of like the slider he threw to San Diego Padre third baseman Phil Nevin in the seventh inning, the one that hung in the air like stale cigar smoke until Nevin smoked it over the left-field wall.

Ortiz was near perfect through six innings, blanking the Padres on three hits, but the Angel right-hander imploded in the seventh, giving up all five runs in the Padres’ 5-1 interleague victory over the Angels before 31,536 at Edison Field.

“That was amazing,” Ortiz said. “I’ve never given up five runs so fast. Incredible. The first six innings, I was pitching real good.”

This isn’t Little League though. The games are nine innings, and while Ortiz was knocked out in the seventh, Padre right-hander Brian Lawrence went the distance, limiting the Angels to one run and seven hits, striking out four and walking none for his first career complete game.

Not bad for a 25-year-old who was recalled from triple-A Portland on Sunday to spot start for injured left-hander Sterling Hitchcock.

Like Ortiz, Lawrence took advantage of the twilight conditions created by the 5 p.m. start, striking out cleanup batter Troy Glaus three times and allowing one runner to reach second until the Angels scored on Adam Kennedy’s two-out triple and Darin Erstad’s bloop single in the sixth.

Unlike Ortiz, Lawrence was just as unhittable when the shadows dissipated and the lights took effect, blanking the Angels over the final three innings. Lawrence’s reward? He was sent back to triple A after the game to make room for tonight’s starter, Brian Tollberg.

“Talk about changing speeds and hitting spots,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He put on a clinic out there.”

So did Ortiz. Until the seventh.

A 1-0 Angel lead evaporated when Nevin, a former Angel, belted a 1-and-2 slider just beyond the reach of left fielder Garret Anderson, who leaped above the wall and had the ball nick off the tip of his glove and into the Angel bullpen for Nevin’s 24th homer and a 1-1 tie.

Before the homer, Ortiz (7-7) thought he struck out Nevin with a slider on the outside corner on a two-strike pitch. “It was a strike,” Ortiz said, “but [umpire Rocky Roe] didn’t call it.”

Ortiz said he wasn’t flustered by the call, but the rest of the inning didn’t back his claim. Tony Gwynn walked, and Bubba Trammell hit a bloop single to center, advancing pinch-runner Rickey Henderson, who came on for Gwynn, to third.

Ben Davis’ sacrifice fly to left made it 2-1, Mike Darr singled to right, and D’Angelo Jimenez poked an RBI single to right to make it 3-1. Damian Jackson doubled to right to score two more runs and took third on the throw home.

Scioscia replaced Ortiz with left-hander Mike Holtz, who got Mark Kotsay to ground to second, setting in motion a lengthy rundown in which every Angel infielder--pitcher and catcher included--got an assist or putout.

Kennedy fielded Kotsay’s grounder and threw to catcher Bengie Molina. With Jackson between third and home, Molina threw to Glaus, the third baseman. Glaus chased Jackson toward home before throwing to Holtz.

Holtz ran Jackson to third before throwing to shortstop David Eckstein, who chased Jackson toward home before flipping to first baseman Scott Spiezio, who finally tagged Jackson, a 4-2-5-1-6-3 putout for those scoring at home.

It was a quirky play that helped kill the rally, but the damage had been done. Ortiz was gone, but the persistent questions about his ability to pitch under duress resurfaced.

“As Ramon gets more experience, I’m hoping he’ll be a better finisher, but today he couldn’t get it done,” Scioscia said. “He missed with the 0-2 slider [to Nevin], came back with another one and just hung it. He was pitching good until that point but couldn’t close the door.

“I don’t know if he was flustered as much as it’s controlling his emotions. He makes a good pitch, the guy nicks it, he tries to throw a better pitch and throws it harder. He has a lot of adrenaline and excitement, and sometimes it’s a double-edged sword. Until he controls that, you’ll always be on edge with him out there.”