Colon handcuffs 51s in rehab start

"Bring on Ichiro!"

Maybe that was what Bartolo Colon was thinking to himself after his latest rehabilitation assignment yielded mid-season results Sunday at Cashman Field.

Colon, who is attempting to come back from a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, took a huge step forward in his attempt to rejoin the Los Angeles Angels' pitching rotation this coming weekend when they host Seattle.

In seven shutout innings for Salt Lake against the 51s, Colon yielded just three hits, struck out three and walked one. He was on a pitch count of between 90 and 100 pitches and he threw 95 pitches, 68 for strikes, as the Bees routed Las Vegas, 8-2.

"Thank God," Colon said through an interpreter in the visitors' clubhouse. "I didn't have a lot of movement so I tried to change speeds. But I felt really good out there and I wasn't trying to throw hard."

The 2005 American League Cy Young Award winner hit 96 mph on the radar gun in the first inning. More important for the Angels and their fans, Colon still had plenty on his fastball late in his stint. He had a 95-mph fastball in the seventh inning.

"He wanted to throw more but we wanted him between 90 and 100 and it worked out perfectly," Salt Lake manager Brian Harper said.

Colon last pitched in the major leagues on July 27. He was 1-5 with a 5.11 earned-run average when the Angels shut him down for good in 2006. It has been a long rehab for the 33-year-old from the Dominican Republic as the Angels refused to rush him during spring training.

Colon found himself making his first appearances of 2007 for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. In two starts, he was 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA. But Sunday was a critical test. The 51s are a big step up from the California League and when Tony Abreu battled Colon in the bottom of the first inning and worked out a 13-pitch walk, there was some concern in the Salt Lake dugout.

"You watch that first at-bat and you're thinking, 'Whoa, you don't want that,' " Harper said.

But Colon called upon his veteran guile and he promptly picked Abreu off first. He would proceed to retire eight straight Las Vegas batters before Larry Bigbie doubled to the gap in left-center field to lead off the bottom of the fourth.

The Bees (7-4) had staked Colon to a 2-0 first-inning lead, then added three in the sixth and two more in the seventh as Salt Lake led 7-0 with Colon on the mound. The way he was pitching, that was more than enough support and the many Angels fans in the crowd of 3,833 rose and cheered after he set the 51s down in order in the bottom of the seventh.

"I'd like to keep him in the rotation here for a while," Harper said with a laugh.

He'll have Colon around for three more days as the Bees head to Tucson after tonight's series finale. Colon will likely throw a bullpen session Tuesday or Wednesday in Arizona, then fly to Southern California and rejoin the Angels in time to start their series with the Mariners Friday at Angel Stadium.

"Yes, I think I'm ready," said Colon, whose start could be pushed back to Saturday depending on whether the Angels' game with the Boston Red Sox gets played today. "I'm excited to be coming back but I'm not 100 percent yet."

* NOTES -- Salt Lake banged out 16 hits against four Las Vegas pitchers, including 10 against starter and loser Travis Smith (1-1). It was a season-high for hits allowed by the 51s (6-4). ... Las Vegas left fielder Delwyn Young, who normally wears No. 49, switched to No. 42 Sunday in honor of Jackie Robinson as baseball celebrated the 60th anniversary of Robinson's major league debut with the Dodgers.