Magrane Struggles in Debut : Angels: The newly acquired pitcher lasts only 3 2/3 innings, giving up six runs, four of them earned, in 7-5 loss.

Talk about a pitcher’s duel.

Sunday, Joe Magrane fought against a lengthy layoff, an assortment of control problems and the lingering affects of reconstructive elbow surgery. He didn’t come away a winner.

“He struggled big time,” Manager Buck Rodgers said after the Milwaukee Brewers defeated Magrane and the Angels, 7-5, at Anaheim Stadium.

“I don’t know if there were too many pluses,” Magrane said. “Just getting out there to toe the slab again as a starter was a good feeling.”

Magrane hadn’t started since July 27 and hadn’t pitched since Aug. 13. His inactivity showed in a rough outing that was marked by a five-run second inning by the Brewers. Magrane, released by the St. Louis Cardinals and signed by the Angels last week, lasted 3 2/3 innings, giving up six runs (four earned), four hits and four walks with two strikeouts and two wild pitches.

“When you get behind guys, I don’t care who you are, it’s difficult,” said Magrane, who was 8-10 with a 4.97 earned-run average in 22 games for the Cardinals. “Command and confidence. . . . I’ve lost a lot of (both) since I haven’t pitched in a long time.”

It would be difficult to pin the loss all on Magrane, but he was willing to accept full responsibility.

“My arm was dead due to inactivity and I put the guys in a hole,” he said. “I can’t remember the last time I walked four guys. My inability to locate the ball led to my demise today. I couldn’t consistently throw in one place. I think everybody I walked today wound up scoring.”

He was right.

The Brewers capitalized on Magrane’s wildness in the second inning, turning three walks, two errors, two wild pitches and two hits into a 5-0 lead. He made 29 pitches in that inning alone, and by the time he gave up a single to B.J. Surhoff in the fourth inning, Rodgers had seen enough.

“He said, ‘That’s enough for today,’ ” Magrane said. “I don’t blame him. I certainly would have gotten tired of watching bases on balls after bases on balls.”

Rodgers also visited Magrane in the midst of the second-inning jam. According to Magrane, the lecture was short and sweet.

“He said my ball was moving good, ‘Just trust it,’ ” Magrane said. “It was a good kick in the . . . That was very helpful.”

Neither Rodgers nor pitching coach Chuck Hernandez wanted to make too much of Magrane’s first start. But the crowd of 19,374 showered Magrane with boos as he left the game.

Rodgers and Hernandez preferred to wait and see before passing judgment.

Errors by shortstop Gary DiSarcina and first baseman Stan Javier contributed to the Brewers’ big inning, Rodgers said.

“We could have caught the ball in the field better,” Rodgers said. “But he’s got to get out there and get some confidence in his fastball. He’s got to get ahead in the counts. He basically went ball one, ball two. The whole thing is getting ahead in the counts.”

After retiring the Brewers in order in the first, Magrane fell behind in the count to seven of the 10 batters he faced in the second. Not surprisingly, three of the four walks he gave up came in the second.

He got the side out in order in the third, but ran into trouble again in the fourth, walking catcher Tom Lampkin, then giving up a single to Juan Bell. Neither of those two are tearing up the league, batting .206 and .257, respectively.

Magrane retired Darryl Hamilton and Kevin Seitzer on fly-ball outs, but Surhoff followed with a run-scoring single for a 6-4 Milwaukee lead.

Rodgers replaced Magrane with Doug Linton at that point. Milwaukee scored only once off Linton; Lampkin’s sacrifice fly scored John Jaha in the fifth.

The Angel offense managed little against the Milwaukee bullpen after chasing starter Jaime Navarro in the third. The Angels had only three hits and scored once off three relievers.

Doug Henry, who pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief, got the victory, improving to 4-4. Jeese Orosco pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his third save.