Angels’ Colon Omitted From Playoff Roster With Strained Shoulder
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CHICAGO – Injured ace Bartolo Colon was left off the Los Angeles Angels’ roster for the AL championship series yesterday and will not pitch against the Chicago White Sox.
A 21-game winner during the regular season, Colon left his start Monday night against the Yankees in Game 5 of the playoffs after only 23 pitches because of inflammation in his right shoulder.
He had been bothered by tightness in his back since early September, and was to be reevaluated by team doctors yesterday before Game 1 of the ALCS. The right-hander was expected to have an MRI today in Chicago.
“There’s been no indication that there is any damage in there that would impact him moving forward. But they’re going to do some tests and we’ll get a better idea this week exactly what his status is,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “I think as soon as he came out of last night’s ballgame, it was pretty ominous and pretty obvious that he wasn’t going to be able to help us in this series.”
Rookie Ervin Santana came on against the Yankees and pitched 5 1/3 innings of solid relief to earn the win in a 5-3 victory, sending the Angels into the ALCS for the second time in four seasons.
But if they’re going to reach the World Series, they’ll have to do it without Colon, a leading candidate for the AL Cy Young Award.
“We had to make a decision real quick. The rosters had to be in by 10 a.m.,” general manager Bill Stoneman said. “This is something that was sprung on us last-second. We ran with the information that we had, which isn’t a whole lot. The best guess, in the best-case scenario, was that he wouldn’t be available for a game this particular series.
Los Angeles did get some good news: Lefthander Jarrod Washburn, scratched from his scheduled start in Game 4 against the Yankees due to a throat infection and fever, is set to go in Game 2 tonight.
If Washburn can’t pitch, Scioscia said he would probably give the ball to reliever Kevin Gregg, who made two starts during the regular season.
Right-handed reliever Esteban Yan replaced Colon on the ALCS roster. He was left off the first-round roster. Yan was 1-1 with a 4.59 ERA in 49 regular-season appearances.
