Indians’ Rout Is Elementary

A remodeled stadium and a retooled rotation were the centerpiece attractions of the Angels’ first home stand, two features that were supposed to bring people into Edison Field and convince them to come back.

So, Angel fans, that new stadium sure is nice, isn’t it?

That’s about all the Angels could boast about after they were shellacked by the Cleveland Indians, 11-0, before 34,834 in Edison Field on Saturday night.

As for that new-and-improved rotation . . . well, maybe this week. One night after Jack McDowell was roughed up in a 6-2 loss to the Indians, left-hander Allen Watson was rocked for seven runs on seven hits, including a homer, in three innings.

Reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa wasn’t much better, getting bombed for four runs on six hits, two of them homers, in three innings. The Indians scored their 11 runs in the first five innings, four of them in the fourth, but unfortunately for the Angels, there was no referee on hand to stop the bout.

Not until reliever Omar Olivares entered in the seventh and struck out Travis Fryman, Jim Thome and Pat Borders did the madness end for the Angels, who swept a two-game series from the New York Yankees to open the season but are in danger of being swept in this three-game set against Cleveland.

Leadoff batter Kenny Lofton had a huge night for the undefeated Indians, going four for five with a double and three RBIs, Travis Fryman hit two solo home runs, and Manny Ramirez added a two-run homer in the fourth, much to the pleasure of actor Drew Carey, who was decked out in an Indian jacket and cap and celebrating wildly in one of Edison Field’s dugout suites.

Bartolo Colon, Cleveland’s 22-year-old right-hander, dispatched the Angels with relative ease, going the distance on a four-hitter with a career-best 10 strikeouts. Of his 134 pitches, 81 were strikes.

Only two Angels reached second against Colon, who retired 12 in a row from the fifth through ninth innings until Cecil Fielder walked with two outs in the ninth. Colon also struck out cleanup batter Tim Salmon three times.

“The story tonight was Bartolo Colon,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “We couldn’t get anything mounted. He was throwing 94-96 mph, he moved the ball around and threw curves for strikes. He was very good.”

Both Collins and Indian Manager Mike Hargrove began pulling starters in the sixth, and that resulted in Angel reserve third baseman Frank Bolick playing in his first major league game since Aug. 30, 1993, when he last appeared for Montreal.

Otherwise, this was a night to forget for the Angels--especially Watson, who entered spring training 15 pounds lighter and in the best shape of his career, and came into the season with a new strategy, to incorporate more sinkers and off-speed pitches and get more ground balls.

Watson gave up a major league-leading 37 home runs in 1997 and figured his new approach and the increased dimensions in the new stadium would work to his advantage, but the park wasn’t big enough to hold Fryman’s first homer, which reached the first row of seats in left field in the second and gave Cleveland a 3-0 lead.

Lofton’s RBI double in the second made it 4-0, Geronimo Berroa’s RBI triple in the third made it 5-0, and after Borders (single) and Shawon Dunston (walk) reached to start the fourth, Collins took the ball from Watson.