CLEVELAND (AP)—The last time they visited Jacobs Field, the Anaheim Angels were very similar to the team they are now—struggling to win.
But a year ago, the Angels didn’t have their World Series rings, either.
Ramon Ortiz pitched a seven-hitter and Garret Anderson drove in three runs Tuesday night, leading Anaheim to a 10-1 win over the Cleveland Indians, who have lost seven straight for the first time in 12 years.
Ortiz (4-2) gave the Angels their first complete game of 2003 and helped Anaheim improve to 8-2 in its last 10 at Cleveland.
The Jake has been particularly good to the Angels. Last year, Anaheim came in 10-14 before sweeping three games during an early season stopover that helped the Angels overcome a slow start and eventually win their first World Series.
“Like last year wouldn’t be bad,” manager Mike Scioscia said.
Anderson hit a two-run homer off Ricardo Rodriguez (2-2) and Jeff DaVanon added three RBIs for the Angels, whose sweep in Cleveland a year ago came in the midst of a 28-8 spurt that turned their season around.
“We don’t talk about coming in here and winning like that,” Anderson said. “We’re banged up right now. We just have to play through the injuries and keep playing our game.”
The Indians (7-19) are off their worst start since 1969 and have their first seven-game losing streak since June 27-July 3, 1991.
“This is nobody’s fault but our own,” rookie catcher Josh Bard said. “We have to be men about it and get the job done.”
Ellis Burks homered in the fourth for Cleveland. The Indians have scored just 11 runs in their past six games.
“We have multiple issues offensively,” said manager Eric Wedge, who held two closed-door meetings before the game. “At times, we’re a little too anxious, we need to work on that.”
Ortiz’s strong outing has to be encouraging to Scioscia, whose starters entered with the AL’s third-worst ERA (5.96) and an 8-11 record.
The right-hander walked two and didn’t record a strikeout against the league’s second-worst hitting team. Ortiz is 3-0 in his career against Cleveland, with all three wins coming at Jacobs Field.
Anderson was more pleased to see Ortiz’s performance than double-digits on the scoreboard.
“Scoring runs is scoring runs,” he said. “It was great to see him throw a complete game and not have to make that many pitches (99) to do it.”
Anderson put Anaheim up 4-0 in the third with his third homer, a line shot into the right-field bleachers.
Tim Salmon singled with one out, and Anderson followed by turning on an 0-1 pitch from Rodriguez.
The Angels added two runs in the fifth on a fielder’s choice by Anderson and Brad Fullmer’s RBI single. Anaheim added one more in the sixth and three in the seventh on run-scoring hits by Troy Glaus, Scott Spiezio and DaVanon.
The Angels scored a pair of unearned runs to take a 2-0 lead in the second off Rodriguez, who allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings.
Fullmer doubled and moved up on Glaus’ single. One out later, Bengie Molina hit a grounder to deep third that Casey Blake should probably have held onto.
Blake, though, tried to get Fullmer at the plate and his throw bounced off the runner and into Anaheim’s dugout for an error. DaVanon followed with asacrifice fly.
Notes
Ortiz has nine career complete games. … Salmon extended his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games with a first-inning single. He has the longest current streak in the majors. … The Angels reinstated RHP Francisco Rodriguez from the bereavement list and optioned RHP Derrick Turnbow to Triple-A Salt Lake. This is baseball’s first year with the list, which allows a team to bring up a player from the minors if another player has to leave because of a death in the family. Rodriguez attended his grandmother’s funeral in Venezuela. … Indians RHP Bob Wickman, out for the season following elbow surgery, will have his jersey (No. 20) retired Wednesday by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He is the only major leaguer in school history. … In his last 17 games, Burks is batting .323 (21-for-65) with four homers and 11RBIs.
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