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Dodgers shut out Angels, 4-0, in exhibition game

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Ramon Ortiz, one of a number of pitchers competing for the fifth spot in the Dodgers rotation, allowed one infield single and struck out five in four scoreless innings Monday to lead the Dodgers to a 4-0 exhibition victory over the Angels in Tempe Diablo Stadium. Ortiz, the former Angels right-hander, has now thrown nine scoreless innings this spring.

The Dodgers scored two runs in the first inning off Angels starter Scott Kazmir, who was making his spring debut. Kazmir walked two and gave up run-scoring singles to Garret Anderson, the former Angels star who is trying to win a reserve spot with the Dodgers, and Casey Blake in the first.

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Angelo Songco hit a solo home run off Angels reliever Sean O’Sullivan in the seventh inning, and Scott Van Slyke hit an RBI single off O’Sullivan in the ninth inning.

Angels relievers Fernando Rodney and Kevin Jepsen also made their spring debuts, Rodney giving up two singles and walking two in two-thirds of an inning and Jepsen striking out two and walking one in a scoreless inning.

The Angels, who tore up the Cactus League with a 26-8 record last spring, fell to 2-8-2 in exhibition play and have not swung the bats very well.

Not that Manager Mike Scioscia is all that concerned. These games, remember, don’t count.

‘Any time you’re on the field you’re going to try to win, but there are certain things within a spring-training game that can move you forward so you feel like it’s a win,’ Scioscia said. ‘There are a lot of positives, when you look at some of the good things like the way Ervin Santana is pitching, getting Kazmir, Rodney and Jepsen out there today. We’re moving forward in important areas, and that’s a bigger issue than wins and losses.’

--Mike DiGiovanna in Tempe, Ariz.

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