Colon answers wake-up call with solid, rebounding effort

If Bartolo Colon’s six-inning, two-run outing against the Pirates on Sunday becomes a pivotal point in his season, the Angels will have Manny Ramirez to thank.

Colon had been battered in his previous five starts, winning only one and compiling an earned-run average of 9.79 in 26 2/3 innings while battling tendinitis in his right triceps. No longer able to blow the ball past batters and consistently hit 100 mph on the radar gun, he was struggling to find his command and identity as he approached his 300th major league start.

A call early Sunday from Boston’s Ramirez, a fellow Dominican and Colon’s teammate during their days in Cleveland, boosted Colon’s confidence at precisely the right moment.

Although Colon didn’t get the win in the Angels’ 4-3, 10-inning victory -- he handed the bullpen a 3-2 lead that Francisco Rodriguez couldn’t hold -- he made some tactical and psychological gains. He gave up seven hits and struck out six while walking four, though he was squeezed on a bases-loaded, full-count pitch to Adam LaRoche in the fifth inning that scored the Pirates’ first run.

“You can lose confidence, but you cannot take it out to the mound, because you’re responsible for your team for that day,” Colon said through an interpreter.

If his rejuvenation continues, it would be a huge boost for a pitching staff that rivals any when it’s at full strength -- which it could be by the end of this week.

Ten-game winner John Lackey, bothered by tightness in his shoulder, is scheduled to start tonight against the Royals, and Jered Weaver is scheduled to return Wednesday after missing a start to nurse the shoulder he jammed sliding into second base June 16. Add Kelvim Escobar, who’s 9-3 and leads the starters with a 2.81 ERA, and Ervin Santana, who will pitch Tuesday, and it’s a formidable group that can step up on the rare days that the Angels’ offense is held in check.

Colon won his first five decisions this season but has won only once in six starts since May 17. He welcomed the encouragement offered by Ramirez, a trusted friend.

“Around 8 in the morning, Manny Ramirez called me and we had like a 15-minute talk,” Colon said. “He’s such a confident hitter that I think he rubbed some of that on me today.

“Confidence is a big part, but I’m very thankful to Manny Ramirez for calling me early this morning to just remind me who Bartolo Colon is.”

The Bartolo Colon of 2007, now 34, isn’t the same as he was even during his 2005 Cy Young season. He’s more of a battler, by necessity.

Although his fastball still tops 90 mph, it doesn’t get there all the time. He must focus more on location and strategy, which isn’t instinctive for him.

“I have to catch myself sometimes thinking about setting up a hitter,” he said, “because I’m not going to finish him with 98, 99.”

But he’s making the transition from power pitcher to thinking man’s pitcher with grace, willingly seeking every available resource.

“It is an adjustment,” he said. “I take Roger Clemens, one of my heroes I saw through the years, watching him on TV and pitching against him, I saw he’s adjusted. He’s making probably better pitches now, which is what I’m trying to do, make better pitches without having the 98, 99.”

Colon has also been able to learn from his own triumphs and mistakes.

He asked Diego Lopez, the Angels’ senior video coordinator, for three videotapes that would illustrate the mechanics of his delivery. The first tape, which he shared with pitching coach Mike Butcher, was of the complete game, a five-hit shutout, he pitched for Cleveland against the Angels on March 31, 2002.

“I wanted to look at everything I was doing on the mound, from the pace to the timing, and throwing fast with my stuff,” Colon said. “Not to copy the stuff I had that day, because I had more velocity, but to take that then into the bullpen, where Mike Butcher saw a couple of things that he corrected and Butcher so far has been a tremendous help to me.”

The other tapes were more like horror films.

“I took home the last two starts, that were really, really bad and I compared that to the one start in 2002 to see what I was doing,” he said. “And I found some things mechanically that today really helped me a lot.”

He said his velocity wasn’t as good Sunday as in his previous start, a loss to Houston on Tuesday in which he gave up seven runs in six innings. And he wasn’t happy about the four walks, though he threw 61 strikes among his 103 pitches. But as long as his arm feels as good as it did Sunday, he’s prepared to face the bumps he will encounter along this evolutionary path.

“I asked God to help me continue to pitch like this,” he said, “because I think this is the level I should continue to pitch at and I can make adjustments throughout the game.”

Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.