Home Style Cooks the Angels Again

A crowd of 31,815 showed up at Edison Field Friday night, but the Angels once again played like a team struggling with the discomforts of home.

They wasted a strong effort by pitcher Ramon Ortiz and a chance to end Tim Hudson’s domination of them in a 5-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

The Angels, who were swept by the Seattle Mariners to begin this nine-game homestand, have lost five games in a row and are 1-7 at home in a season only 10 games old.

“We haven’t swung the bats great, but we haven’t got many breaks either,” designated hitter Brad Fullmer said. “We have to find a way to get it done.”

If ever there were a time for the Angels to make a statement against the division-rival A’s, this was it. Oakland, which lost slugger Jason Giambi to the New York Yankees, was coming off a 7-0 loss to the Texas Rangers, the first time the A’s failed to score a run since June 17, 2001.

But the Angels were facing Hudson, a 26-year-old right-hander who was 18-9 last season and went into the game with an 8-1 career record and 3.16 earned-run average against the Angels.

Before the game, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia likened Hudson to several talented young pitchers he caught during his career with the Dodgers.

“He reminds me of Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Bobby Welch and Steve Howe,” Scioscia said. “All of them were extremely young, but they had an advanced feel for pitching that made them pitch beyond what you think their experience would predict.”

Predictably, Hudson kept the Angels in check.

He gave up one run, nine hits, struck out five and walked only one as he beat the Angels for the seventh consecutive time dating to Sept. 26, 2000.

Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus and Fullmer, the Angels’ three-four-five hitters, were 0 for 12 against Hudson.

Jim Mecir retired the Angels in order in the eighth and Billy Koch pitched a perfect ninth.

“We’ve been really on the edge the last week and haven’t given ourselves much of a chance,” Scioscia said.

Ortiz (1-1), coming off a 6-3 victory over the Texas Rangers last Saturday, matched Hudson through six-plus innings but could not hold a 1-0 lead. He gave up three runs, seven hits and struck out four in six-plus innings.

The Angels threatened in the first and third innings before breaking through with a run in the fifth.

Scott Spiezio led off with a double into the right-field corner and moved to third on Bengie Molina’s single through the infield to left. Adam Kennedy walked to load the bases before Hudson struck out David Eckstein.

Up stepped Darin Erstad, who had singled in the first and grounded into an inning ending-double play in the third.

Erstad hit a line drive up the middle that Hudson failed to glove. Shortstop Miguel Tejada fielded the ball on a hop behind second base and flipped the ball to second baseman Frank Menechino, but Kennedy beat him to the bag, allowing Spiezio to score.

It was all for naught, however, as the A’s erased the lead with three runs in the seventh with the aid of an Angel error.

Ortiz walked Eric Chavez to start the seventh and Tejada followed with a single. Terrence Long then hit a short fly ball to left field that hooked toward the foul line and fell in front of a charging Anderson for a run-scoring single. Anderson tried to throw out Tejada at third base, but he was charged with an error when the ball went past Glaus and rolled toward the screen behind the plate. Tejada beat the throw from Ortiz to Molina at home plate for a 2-1 lead.

Ramon Hernandez followed with a single up the middle, scoring Long, and Ortiz was replaced by Dennis Cook after walking Carlos Pena.

Tejada hit a two-run home run against Ben Weber in the eigth inning to make it 5-1.