COLON RAISES THE BAR ANGELS STARTER FANS 11 IN SECOND START ANGELS 11, TAMPA BAY 3.

Byline: BEN VILLA

Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- Bartolo Colon might never win the Cy Young award again, as he did in 2005. But after his performance Thursday, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays probably believe he has just as good a shot as anybody.

Colon made his second straight strong start, striking out 11 in seven innings -- including the last four he faced -- as the Angels completed a two-game sweep of the Devil Rays, 11-3 in front of 35,597 at Angel Stadium.

"This was a good win for us and that was as good as we've seen Bartolo in a long time," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He started strong and he finished strong and the challenge for him now is to maintain his stuff throughout the whole year.

"Tampa Bay was second in the league in offense coming into this series. We did a good job on the mound and we pitched two good games against them."

The Angels gave Colon all the runs he would need in the bottom of the first inning when they scored five off Devil Rays starter Jae Seo, who had given up the most runs in baseball coming into the contest.

The highlight was Vladimir Guerrero's sixth home run of the season for a 2-0 lead.After that, all that was left for Colon was to make it out of the fifth inning to secure the win.

Colon won his first start last Saturday after coming back from a partial tear in his right rotator cuff, throwing seven innings to beat Seattle with only one strikeout.

With a 9-0 lead, Colon gave up a two-run home run to Carlos Pena in the fourth inning. But after that, no Devil Rays batter reached second base.

Colon retired 10 out of the last 11 batters he faced. With his pitch count nearing 100, he still had enough to strike out Pena, B.J. Upton and Josh Paul to conclude his day.

He wound up surrending four hits and walking one.

"I expected to be stronger in my second start and I was," Colon said through an interpreter. "I actually felt stronger in my first three innings than I did my last one.

"In the seventh, I decided to let it loose because I wanted to see exactly how strong I was. So far, there's been no pain in my right shoulder and I have no concerns moving forward. I feel very good.

"I don't know if I will every feel like the way I did in 2005 but right now, I'm mentally and physically strong and that's all you can ask for after surgery."

During a 6-1 homestand, the Angels totaled 55 runs.

The 11 scored Thursday was a season-high.

"It's good for us to go on a road trip after a game like this," shortstop Orlando Cabrera said.

"Everybody is swinging the bats well. I don't know what was wrong with us on our first trip. Everybody was concerned about the weather and it's still cold. But we have to go out there and show the real team we are.

"It's up to us to step up and we know we have to win games on the road to."

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Angels starter Bartolo Colon acknowledges the fans after coming out of the game Thursday.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images