Angels Fly Over White Sox
Ramon Ortiz had three balls in his locker, one for each of the three strikeouts he got in his major league debut Thursday.
"He's used to more," catcher Ben Molina said.
Ortiz will get plenty of chances to add to his collection. Backed by a 9-0 lead, he pitched four-hit ball for eight innings to lead the Anaheim Angels over the Chicago White Sox 9-2.
"I'm glad we scored enough runs so every inning it wasn't do or die on every pitch," Angels manager Terry Collins said. "Hopefully this is something we'll get to see a lot of."
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Molina hit a solo homer in the third, a run-scoring single in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth. The catcher, called up Aug. 3, entered 8-for-34 (.235) with four RBIs in 10 games and went 3-for-5 to raise his average to .282.
"I hope I have many days like that," Molina said. "I hope it's not the last one."
Ortiz, a 23-year-old right-hander, struck out three and walked one. He was 5-3 in nine starts at Triple-A Edmonton of the Pacific Coast League.
Asked if he was nervous, Ortiz said, "Why?"
"Why would he be afraid? We're all humans and people," said Molina, acting as interpreter. "He said the only time he's afraid is if he's going to get killed."
Ortiz dedicated the game to his mother and said he didn't know whether he impressed the Angels with his performance.
"His goal is to throw strikes and get people out," Molina said. "He did the same thing in Edmonton. He hit his spots ad threw hard. He did the same when he was in Edmonton only this was better. He's in the big leagues."
"In the dugout, everybody was saying that he was giving us good pitches to hit, but we just didn't do it," Chicago's Brook Fordyce said.
Jim Parque (9-9) gave up seven runs and eight hits in 4 2-3 innings as the White Sox lost for only the second time in eight games. He is 0-3 in seven starts since July 7.
"I'm not going to hang my head," Parque said. "Everybody on this staff has struggled at some point. My time is now. I'm a professional and I'll take the beatings as they come. You can't dominate all the time."
Molina homered in the third, Glaus homered leading off the fourth, and Anaheim made it 4-0 later in the inning on Molina's RBI single and Gary DiSarcina's run-scoring grounder.
Anaheim added three runs for a 7-0 lead in the seventh on Greene's RBI single and Molina's two-run single. Vaughn got his 21st homer in the sixth off Sean Lowe.
Brian Simmons had an RBI grounder in the seventh and a run-scoring single in the ninth.
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