VLAD LITERAL AS CLEAN-UP GUERRERO'S BIG HIT SAVES ANGELS, FADING COLON ANGELS 7, BOSTON 4.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - When the Angels launched their much-ballyhooed offseason shopping spree, they considered pitcher Bartolo Colon the indispensable piece, while outfielder Vladimir Guerrero was more like the $70 million icing on a very expensive cake.

But on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium, a season-long pattern continued with the Angels' two well-paid superstars. Colon's velocity came and went like a Santa Ana wind, producing a four-inning, 109-pitch, four-run mess of an outing.

But Guerrero, as he has been all season, was there to clean up.

His two-run double in the sixth inning off Bronson Arroyo put the Angels ahead to stay and they went on to a 7-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in front of a sellout crowd of 43,285.

Although Colon did not pitch the Angels out of the game, his latest rough start didn't exactly quiet the whispers that something might be wrong with the burly right-hander, whom the Angels signed to a four-year, $51 million contract.

Colon's fastball topped out at 96 mph, but he rarely reached the mid-90s and he hit just 88 on the gun on Kevin Millar's solo homer in the second.

Later that inning, he hit 93 and 95 mph in striking out Pokey Reese and David Ortiz, but by the fourth, his fastball was sapped of any juice.

He hit 88 and 89 mph on pitches Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek socked for RBI doubles, and by the time he struck out Brian Daubach to end the inning, he was at 109 pitches through just four innings, and the Angels were in a 4-1 hole.

It took almost every player on the field to dig them out of it.

Kevin Gregg (2-0) relieved Colon and held the top run-scoring lineup in the majors scoreless, giving up two singles in 2 2/3scoreless innings.

Shortstop David Eckstein had three hits, drove in two runs and scored twice. Rookie Casey Kotchman hit an RBI double in the fourth, singled to start the go-ahead rally in the sixth and scored three runs.

After Gregg gave up a pair of singles to start the seventh, catcher Jose Molina eased the pressure by picking Ramirez off second, and Francisco Rodriguez struck out Millar to finish the inning, then struck out the side in the eighth before handing off to closer Troy Percival, who finished for his 13th save.

But Guerrero struck the decisive blow.

Kotchman's RBI double in the fourth and an error on first baseman Brian Daubach cut the deficit to 4-3, and Kotchman started the sixth-inning rally with a single. A hit batter and Eckstein's RBI single tied it 4-4 and left two runners on for Guerrero.

He did not disappoint, driving an Arroyo pitch into the gap in left-center field, giving him a team-high 40 RBIs and the Angels a 6-4 lead.

While the crowd drove home happy, Colon's struggles won't always be camouflaged by stellar support and good bullpen work. His ERA is now 5.43, and only John Lackey's 5.95 is worse among Angels starters.

Colon has won just once in his last seven starts, and he failed to pitch into the sixth inning for the third time in four starts. While he struck out seven on Tuesday, he gave up eight hits to the Sox and has yielded 74 hits in 64 2/3 innings.

He threw an astounding 85 pitches after just three innings Tuesday, an effort that was guaranteed to tax the Angels bullpen.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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