Chicago ? Injured ace Bartolo Colon was left off the Los Angeles Angels’ roster for the AL championship series Tuesday 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 New York 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 re-evaluated by team doctors today before Game 1 of the ALCS. The right-hander was expected to have an MRI today in Chicago.

“You have to know Bartolo, he’s a horse. This guy doesn’t complain about anything. When he says something is bothering him, you know it’s significant,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

“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. 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 New York and pitched 51â3 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.

“This has been a resilient club for an entire season. There is really no reason for that to change. The club has the right attitude to absorb bumps in the road.”

With the Angels’ rotation in shambles following their first-round series, Paul Byrd started the ALCS opener on three days’ rest.

Los Angeles did get some good news: Left-hander Jarrod Washburn, scratched from his scheduled start in Game 4 against the Yankees due to a throat infection and fever, might be ready for Game 2 tonight against the White Sox.

“Well, it isn’t a slam dunk that he’s going to be able to start,” Scioscia said.