ANGELS REPORT

Pedro Martinez, Ramon Ortiz’s idol, pitched for the Boston Red Sox Thursday night. Ortiz started for the Angels Thursday afternoon. If both right-handers from the Dominican Republic remain on normal schedules--four days between starts--they will square off in Fenway Park on Aug. 29.

“That would be the best day of my life,” Ortiz said after shutting down the White Sox in his big league debut Thursday. “I asked God for a chance to pitch against Pedro, and it might happen. It would bring great happiness to me. Between the lines, we’ll be enemies. Before the game and after the game, we’ll be friends.”

Ortiz will need a little help from Angel Manager Terry Collins for his dream matchup to come true. The Angels are off next Thursday, so Collins will have to skip Jarrod Washburn’s spot in the rotation to start Ortiz in Fenway. Red Sox Manager Jimy Williams likes to keep Martinez on a regular schedule, so he’s expected to start that day despite Thursday’s day off.

“We don’t want to do too much to screw this kid up,” Collins said. “But we’re certainly going to think about [starting Ortiz against Martinez].”

Martinez struck out 15 in a 6-0 victory over the Angels on May 7. Ortiz, a former teammate of Martinez’s in the Dominican Winter League, was impressive in his debut Thursday, giving up one run on four hits in eight innings of a 9-2 victory that took only 2 hours 39 minutes to complete.

ON DECK

* Opponent--Detroit Tigers, four games.

* Site--Edison Field.

* Tonight--7.

* TV--Fox Sports West tonight and Saturday night, Channel 9 Monday night.

* Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Records--Angels 49-71, Tigers 47-73.

* Record vs. Tigers--3-3.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (7-10, 5.15 ERA) vs. TIGERS’ BRIAN MOEHLER (8-12, 5.59)

* Update--When Finley and Moehler pitched last weekend, the results were good for the Angels. The Angels bombed Moehler for seven runs on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings in last Saturday’s 7-4 victory over the Tigers, and Finley gave up only two runs on six hits and struck out 12 in 6 2/3 innings of the Angels’ 10-2 win over Detroit on Sunday. Finley has given up three runs on 15 hits and struck out 26 in 21 1/3 innings of his last three starts, all since the July 31 trading deadline. Mo Vaughn has three homers in his last four games, and Troy Glaus has three homers in his last seven.

* Saturday, 7 p.m.--Jarrod Washburn (0-1, 8.44) vs. Jeff Weaver (6-9, 5.56).

* Sunday, 5 p.m.--Steve Sparks (5-9, 4.74) vs. Dave Borkowski (0-3, 8.21).

* Monday, 7 p.m.--Tim Belcher (5-7, 6.67) vs. TBA.