Extended slump continues

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- At least the Minnesota Twins didn't have to look at the Rally Monkey.

The Anaheim Angels never had to play catchup Friday night against the Twins as Ramon Ortiz and two relievers combined on a four-hit, 5-0 victory in the first meeting between the teams since the AL championship series.

Despite a sellout crowd of 43,442, the scene was quite different from the frenzied atmosphere Oct. 13 when the Angels won their first pennant with a 13-5 victory -- using Adam Kennedy's three home runs and a 10-run seventh inning to eliminate the Twins before going on to win the World Series.

"It wasn't easy," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire recalled. "We had a goal for this team to prove a lot of people wrong, but we got beat. And the way we got beat wasn't a lot of fun. We got creamed.

"For a couple of weeks, I didn't really feel like talking to anybody. But when I started going out in public again and started talking to the fans in Minnesota, it was actually very nice. Our fans had a blast last year and had a lot of good memories, so that was the most rewarding part."

Gardenhire found nothing rewarding about the Twins' sixth straight loss. The Angels' first run came in the fourth on Troy Glaus' towering two-out bloop double, which right fielder Bobby Kielty just missed after second baseman Luis Rivas lost it in the twilight.

Tim Salmon made it 3-0 in the sixth, getting the green light from manager Mike Scioscia on a 3-0 pitch from Johan Santana (4-2) and sending his 14th home run into the left-field bullpen after a double by Darin Erstad.

"We knew he was swinging," Gardenhire said. "We were yelling out of the dugout to him to make a decent pitch.

"Garret Anderson was on deck, hitting .360 against left-handers -- and had two hits off him already. So we were really trying to get away from pitching to him. He ended up throwing Salmon fastball right down the middle and it cost us a couple of runs. But we didn't score, anyway."

Ortiz (11-6) allowed three hits and four walks over six innings, striking out five and stranding eight baserunners. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth by striking out Denny Hocking.

"Ramon was able to make pitches to get the big outs. That's a good sign," Scioscia said after the Angels' 10th win in 14 games. "We weren't happy with his ball-to-strike ratio. So for him to be able to put up six zeros, as far off as he was tonight, was just incredible."

First-time All-Star Brendan Donnelly retired all six batters he faced for his second save.

Notes: Gardenhire, ejected with LHP Kenny Rogers on July 3 after a retaliatory beanball against the Cleveland Indians, will serve a one-game suspension Saturday while Rogers begins a five-game ban. ... Twins SS Christian Guzman, who originally was to be benched the entire series for defensive reasons, entered the game in the fourth after 3B Corey Koskie strained his lower back. Chris Gomez had to switch from short to third.

MINNESOTA ANAHEIM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Gomez ss 4 0 0 0 Erstad cf 3 2 1 0

Mntkw 1b 3 0 0 0 Spiezio 1b 4 1 1 2

Koskie 3b 2 0 0 0 Salmon rf 4 1 1 2

CGzmn ss 2 0 1 0 Owens rf 0 0 0 0

LeCroy dh 4 0 1 0 GAndsn lf 4 1 2 0

Przyns c 4 0 1 0 Glaus 3b 3 0 1 1

Kielty rf 3 0 0 0 Wooten dh 3 0 0 0

Mohr lf 3 0 0 0 BMolna c 3 0 0 0

Hcking cf 3 0 0 0 AKndy 2b 3 0 0 0

Rivas 2b 2 0 1 0 BGil ss 3 0 0 0

Totals 30 0 4 0 Totals 30 5 6 5

Minnesota 000 000 000 -- 0

Anaheim 000 102 02x -- 5

E--BGil (6). DP--Anaheim 2. LOB--Minnesota 8, Anaheim 2. 2B--Pierzynski (16), Erstad (4), Glaus (16). HR--Spiezio (9), Salmon (14).

IP H R ER BB SO

Minnesota

Santana L,4-2 6 5 3 3 0 4

Rincon 1 0 0 0 0 1

Romero 1 1 2 2 1 1

Anaheim

ROrtiz W,11-6 6 3 0 0 4 5

Shields 1 1 0 0 0 0

Donnelly S,2 2 0 0 0 0 1

HBP--by ROrtiz (Rivas). Balk--Santana.

Umpires--Home, Angel Hernandez; First, Sam Holbrook; Second, Paul Schrieber; Third, Randy Marsh.

T--2:22. A--43,442 (45,030).