ANGELS NOTEBOOK: ORTIZ STAYING PUT COULD BE A BIG HELP.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Ramon Ortiz went from pitching his way out of town to likely pitching his way back in the Angels rotation.

Saturday's non-waiver trade deadline passed at Angel Stadium, and shortly thereafter, a rested-looking general manager Bill Stoneman emerged from his office and said there were no last-minute overtures from Arizona, offering Randy Johnson.

Nor were there any minor deals to help out the bench, though that could still happen this month with a player that could slip through waivers.

And in summing up the Angels' non-activity, much of it can be traced to a rotation pitching better in the weeks leading up to the deadline, with the very tradeable Ortiz suddenly becoming an indispensable cog.

Ortiz, with a 2.13 ERA in four spot starts, was deemed as good or superior to other options, such as Pittsburgh's Kris Benson. So he stayed, despite his twice-stated preference to be traded, and the Angels stood pat.

``With the analysis we did, with Ramon pitching better now and the probability he's going to get more opportunities as a starter, we're pleased with the prospect of having him as part of our depth,'' Stoneman said. ``How much better would anyone else make us that Ramon Ortiz makes us?''

The Angels haven't yet placed placed Ortiz in the rotation, because left-hander Jarrod Washburn must get through a bullpen session today before getting activated for a possible start on Thursday. So Aaron Sele will have at least one more start.

``Ramon is doing everything a player in his position can do,'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ``Ramon's making a great statement to stay in the rotation. Randy Johnson wasn't contingent on how our staff was throwing. But other guys around the league were. Our staff throwing to its potential means a diminished sense of urgency.''

This month's likely target will be an extra infielder, with Shane Halter at Triple-A and Alfredo Amezaga an offensive non-entity. Adam Kennedy again is struggling against left-handers, hitting .214 entering Saturday, so a right-handed hitting infielder like Kansas City's Tony Graffanino will make a good fit.

Robb Quinlan's offensive burst - he extended his hitting streak to 12 games Saturday - also gives them the option of moving Chone Figgins to second against lefties.

``There are peripheral areas Bill will look at that will help us,'' Scioscia said. ``It might not be a big name, but it will be big for us in here.''

--Percival struggles: Closer Troy Percival admitted he was on fumes Saturday, working for the fourth time in five games, and Ichiro Suzuki proved as much, clubbing his 88-mph first-pitch fastball for a game-tying home run to lead off the ninth inning Saturday.

But given that Percival could only get his fastball to 91 mph, getting out of the inning tied 8-8 was almost a moral victory. And Suzuki has been unstoppable; he had two more hits Saturday, giving him 51 this month, his second 50-hit month this year.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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- Gabe Lacques