Major League Baseball

Rockies 7, Angels 5

Published Mar. 6, 2010 1:03 a.m. ET

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Next time, maybe Ubaldo Jimenez will just take the team bus.

Held up by a traffic jam, Jimenez arrived too late to start Friday and instead made his spring training debut out of the bullpen for the Colorado Rockies.

Slated to pitch against the Los Angeles Angels, Jimenez opted to drive himself to the ballpark rather than ride with the team. But a bus crash that killed six people and left more than 15 others injured just south of Tempe caused major traffic in the area.

Jimenez was delayed nearly two hours by the accident and worked the fourth and fifth innings for a Rockies split squad in a 7-5 victory over the Angels.

The right-hander allowed three hits and four runs (three earned) in two innings. He walked two and struck out three.

``I felt the same,'' Jimenez said. ``Everything was the same. Everything was good. I was throwing strikes. The main thing I was looking for was that I was able to throw strikes. Even though I had two walks, all my pitches were close to the strike zone.''

The accident occurred on the I-10 freeway that connects Phoenix and Tucson, where the Rockies train. Colorado's team bus arrived to the game on time, but standstill traffic turned what normally would have been about a 75-minute drive for Jimenez into a 3-hour trip.

Rockies left-hander Greg Smith was scheduled to be the day's second pitcher, but started the game and fared better, pitching two scoreless innings while walking three and striking out two.

Colorado roughed up Angels starter Sean O'Sullivan, scoring four runs in the first. Clint Barmes hit a solo homer and Ian Stewart had a two-run double, his first of three hits.

Cole Garner added a solo homer off O'Sullivan in the second inning. Garner also tripled to left in the sixth, barely missing another homer.

O'Sullivan, in his first spring outing, allowed four extra-base hits over 1 1-3 innings. He yielded five runs and four hits with a walk and a strikeout.

The 22-year-old O'Sullivan doesn't figure to make the Angels' rotation out of camp. He started 10 games for Los Angeles last season and went 4-2 with a 5.92 ERA in 12 appearances.

In four minor league seasons, O'Sullivan has a 37-21 record. He threw a no-hitter with Triple-A Salt Lake last July 28, the first in club history.

Like O'Sullivan, Smith is hoping for a shot in the big leagues after spending the entire 2009 season with three minor league clubs in the Rockies' chain. He was slowed by shoulder inflammation.

Angels closer Brian Fuentes made his first spring appearance, getting two outs. He allowed two hits and a run with two strikeouts. Miguel Olivo drove in Troy Tulowitzki with a double off Fuentes in the third.

``I'm mostly just trying to hit my spots and move the ball around,'' said Fuentes, who was 1-5 with 48 saves and a 3.93 ERA with the Angels last year.

Fuentes saved 115 games for the Rockies from 2003-08 before signing with the Angels as a free agent.

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