Angels in There Pitching

The back that gave out so suddenly on Scott Schoeneweis before his last scheduled start was strong enough to carry the Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays before 15,611 in Edison Field Wednesday night. Give his left arm an assist too.

Schoeneweis, scratched from a May 10 game in Chicago because of lower-back spasms, stifled a potent Blue Jay lineup for 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and striking out three, and the Angels eked out just enough offense to make Schoeneweis (3-2) a winner.

Troy Glaus and Adam Kennedy homered in the second, Al Levine threw 1 2/3 innings of perfect relief, striking out Raul Mondesi and Carlos Delgado in the eighth, and Troy Percival struck out two of three in a dominating ninth for his eighth save and Mike Scioscia’s 100th victory as Angel manager.

“I had no idea it was No. 100,” Scioscia said. “Percy handed the ball to me and said, ‘Congratulations.’ I wasn’t sure what it was for. I guess it’s nice that you lasted long enough for 100 wins, but I didn’t win any of those games.”

Schoeneweis did Wednesday night. He was a hard-luck loser in Toronto on April 29, giving up one run on five hits in seven innings of a 2-0 Angel loss. He was not quite as sharp Wednesday--his pitch count (112) was on the high side for 6 1/3 innings--but he was every bit as effective in outdueling Toronto right-hander Steve Parris, who won that April 29 game.

The Blue Jays got hits off Schoeneweis in each of the first five innings but failed to score after the first. From the second until his departure with one out in the seventh, the sinkerball specialist induced 12 ground-ball outs.

Toronto leads the American League with 65 home runs, including 25 in the previous 12 games, but Schoeneweis, Levine and Percival kept the Blue Jays in the park, Percival extending his scoreless string to 13 1/3 innings.

“They’ve got some bombers over there,” Scioscia said. “Though it looks kind of easy because we held them to one run, Schoeneweis had to battle. They ran a lot of deep counts, and his pitch count was high.”

Schoeneweis, who hadn’t pitched since May 4, was a little rusty.

“I didn’t feel 100%--I’m not in top shape physically,” he said. “Things were going real well for me, and it was tough to take a start off, but I was happy I was able to pick up where I left off.”

Schoeneweis struck out the first two batters of the game, Shannon Stewart looking and Alex Gonzalez swinging, before Mondesi stroked a two-out single to center, stole second and third and scored on Brad Fullmer’s bloop single to left.

A strong defensive play prevented trouble in the Blue Jay fifth. With a runner on first and one out, Mondesi sent a broken-bat looper to shallow center field.

But Darin Erstad, who cost the Angels three runs in Tuesday’s 9-3 loss to Toronto when he lost a fly ball in the twilight, raced in and made a diving catch. Schoeneweis then retired the dangerous Delgado, the league’s home run leader, on a fly ball to left.

The Angels scored all of their runs in the third, as Glaus lined an opposite-field homer to right, his 10th of the season, Wally Joyner doubled to right and Kennedy hit a towering fly ball that landed in the right-field seats for a two-run homer and a 3-1 lead.

The Angels had a chance to pad the lead in the fourth when David Eckstein led off with a single and Erstad walked. But Tim Salmon struck out, Garret Anderson popped to second, Glaus walked, and Joyner grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

Salmon’s futility continued a disturbing trend for the Angels’ No. 3 batter. With his strikeout in the third, his average with runners in scoring position fell to .069.

“If you look at Tim’s start, those numbers can change in a hurry,” Scioscia said. “He needs to find his swing and his rhythm and start hitting like we know he can.

“He’s going to hit. We know it. We need him, but it’s not just him. You can’t pin our [offensive] struggles on one guy, but certainly, Tim is a key to that core group.”