Rasmussen Stops Angels on One Hit : Baseball: Former Padre faces only 27 as Kansas City wins, 2-0. Brett sits out because of sore shoulder again.

One swing off of a batting practice tee told George Brett his sore left shoulder would again postpone his quest for 3,000 hits.

But Tuesday’s game didn’t lack drama despite Brett’s absence. Kansas City left-hander Dennis Rasmussen, released by the Padres after last season and by two minor league teams this season, pitched a one-hitter and faced the minimum 27 to lead the Royals to a 2-0 victory over the Angels before 17,440, the smallest Anaheim Stadium crowd in more than 13 years.

Damion Easley’s single leading off the fourth inning was the only hit against Rasmussen (4-0), who picked off Easley. Rasmussen and Bert Blyleven (8-11) combined to complete the game in 1 hour 44 minutes, the quickest in the major leagues this season.

“As a pitcher, you go out to throw a no-hitter every time,” Rasmussen said. “I got on a roll and made them put the ball in play, and my teammates made some great plays behind me.”

Rasmussen said the 1-and-1 fastball Easley hit to left “was just a fastball I got up. He jumped on it and hit it like he should have.”

Brett, buoyed by a cortisone shot and news that a magnetic resonance imaging test found no torn muscles in his shoulder, had hoped to face Blyleven. However, that pregame swing convinced Brett that he needed a second day of rest.

“I expect to play (tonight), but I expected to play today,” Brett said after receiving treatment on his shoulder throughout the game. “It feels a lot better. It’s hour-by-hour, treatment-by-treatment.”

Royal trainer Nick Swartz said the rest increased Brett’s chances of playing tonight. “Today it was only 50-50 that he would play. (Tonight), he’ll come in and our expectations will be even higher,” Swartz said.

Brett feared disappointing his mother and other relatives and friends at Anaheim Stadium. “I feel like I’m letting a lot of people down,” he said. “I’m very, very frustrated. This is the first time I’ve made it through a whole season without an injury. It came down to where I needed four hits in seven games, and I was looking forward to the challenge.

“I do not want it to come down to my last at-bat. I do not want it to come down getting four hits in my last three games.

“The best way to say it is the way (Dr.) Lewis Yocum put it. He said (if Brett rested Tuesday), I might be able to play four, five, six games at 80% rather than one at-bat at 80%. Right now, I want to give myself the best chance to do it.”

Mike Macfarlane drove in both Royal runs with a leadoff home run during the fifth and a single to left during the ninth.

“The complete game feels good, but we lost, and that’s the main thing,” said Blyleven, who has lost four consecutive starts and six of his last seven.

“My goal this year was to go nine, and I’ve got one more start, and hopefully I can go nine again.”