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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Rookie Ramon Ortiz beat his idol, and
could hardly contain himself.
"I'm happy, man. We win. Oh, my God, I don't believe it," the
24-year-old right-hander said after pitching a two-hitter to
outduel Pedro Martinez as the Anaheim Angels beat the Boston Red
Sox 2-1 Tuesday night.
Then, speaking through an interpreter, Ortiz told reporters he
and Martinez, who are both from the Dominican Republic, hugged
before the game.
|  | | Rookie Ramon Ortiz didn't just pitch well Tuesday. He went out and did the unthinkable -- he beat his idol, Pedro Martinez. |
"My family is probably going crazy," Ortiz said. "They called
today (from the Dominican) and were making plans to watch the game
because I was facing Pedro.
"He's going to give me a huge hug tomorrow. I love Pedro."
Martinez (13-4) pitched his sixth complete game, allowing only
three hits while walking none and striking out nine.
But Ortiz (4-2), who walked two and struck out six in pitching
his first career complete game, was just a little bit better.
Ortiz was recalled from the minors to make his first start since
July 7 and eighth of the season. He has often said that the
28-year-old Martinez is his idol.
Both pitchers were consistently clocked in the mid-90s; Martinez
allowed only three baserunners and Ortiz just five.
"I didn't pitch as good as the other guy," Martinez said. "I
gave up one more hit than he did. I'm really happy for him. If I
couldn't win, I wanted to see him pitch as well as he could.
"It's the best I've ever seen him. I wouldn't want to pitch
against him again, I don't like to face my friends. Seeing him was
like seeing my brother, Ramon, pitch for the other side, except for
the blood."
The win was the second in a row for the Angels following a
season-long five-game losing streak, and came with their pitching
staff in shambles due to injuries, demotions, the trade of Kent
Bottenfield and the release of Ken Hill.
The performance by Ortiz clearly eased manager Mike Scioscia's
mind.
"I thought he did a great job worrying about the Red Sox
hitters, and not the Red Sox pitcher," Scioscia said. "This is
the way we know he can throw, it's better late than never."
Scioscia said Ortiz has spent most of the season in the minors
because of a lack of command.
"He missed a little bit of spring training, tried to do a
little too much early in the year," Scioscia said. "He went down
to learn his command and get the tools to pitch in the big
leagues."
Martinez entered the game with a 9-0 road record and 1.21 ERA in
11 starts as well as a big league-leading 1.42 ERA, and had won his
previous four starts.
"That was one of the best games I've ever been in during my
whole career," said Angels first baseman Mo Vaughn, who played for
the Red Sox from 1991-98. "Ramon got ahead, didn't get rattled,
going against the best in baseball and his idol. He showed he can
do this, he stepped up and did a great job."
Tim Salmon hit a 2-0 pitch from Martinez over the left-center
field fence for his 25th homer to start the second, extending his
hitting streak to a career-high 16 games and giving the Angels a
1-0 lead.
Salmon was Anaheim's only baserunner until the fourth, when
Orlando Palmeiro blooped a leadoff single and scored from second on
a two-out RBI single by Garret Anderson.
Troy O'Leary doubled to open the fifth for the second Boston
hit, and came around to score on a pair of infield outs to cut
Anaheim's lead to complete the scoring.
Jason Varitek walked with two outs in the sixth before Ortiz
fanned Nomar Garciaparra, the majors' leading hitter, to end the
inning.
O'Leary reached second when center fielder Anderson dropped his
fly ball with one out in the seventh, but Ortiz retired the next
two batters including Ed Sprague on an inning-ending strikeout.
Ortiz finished by retiring his last eight batters.
Martinez retired the final 13 Anaheim batters after Anderson's
fourth-inning single, a grounder up the middle.
Garciaparra went 0-for-4 to drop his batting average to a major
league-leading .386.
Game notes
The game lasted just 2 hours, 2 minutes. Ortiz and Martinez
each threw 112 pitches. ... The Angels promoted first
baseman-outfielder Chris Hatcher, 31, from Triple-A Edmonton of the
PCL. Hatcher, acquired from the Chicago Cubs' organization July 28,
had 26 homers and 77 RBIs in 95 games at Edmonton and Triple-A Iowa
combined this year. ... Salmon has seven homers and 19 RBIs in his
last 18 games. ... Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his
fiancee, Vanessa Laine, attended the game and received a warm
reception from the crowd when shown on the Jumbotron. ... Anaheim
right-hander Matt Wise will make his first big league start
Wednesday night against the Red Sox, becoming the 12th Angels'
pitcher to start a game this season. ... Anaheim left-hander Kent
Mercker, who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while pitching against
Texas on May 11, is scheduled to make his return Saturday against
the New York Yankees.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
Seattle 12
Chi. White Sox 4
Seattle 7
Chi. White Sox 5
(2nd game)
Texas 11
Cleveland 2
Detroit 4
Baltimore 1
NY Yankees 4
Oakland 3
Tampa Bay 5
Minnesota 0
Toronto 6
Kansas City 1
Anaheim 2
Boston 1
Atlanta 5
Cincinnati 4
Philadelphia 10
San Diego 4
Houston 9
NY Mets 3
Florida 7
St. Louis 0
Colorado 6
Pittsburgh 1
Montreal 9
Arizona 3
Los Angeles 7
Chicago Cubs 5
San Francisco 1
Milwaukee 0
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