Rogers’ Pitching Keeps Rangers in the Game : Baseball: With little support, he manages to get through the rough spots to beat the Angels.

Nobody would blame Texas pitcher Kenny Rogers if he winced when reading the box score from Friday night’s game against the Angels.

Defense? Rogers couldn’t get any help from the Ranger shortstops Manny Lee and Esteban Beltre, who contributed three errors.

Run support? The Rangers gave him only two runs, nearly five below their average when the left-hander pitches.

And how about a little help from the Rangers’ bullpen, considered the worst in the major leagues? Forget it.

But Rogers didn’t let any of that drag him down Friday night, stopping a ninth-inning Angel rally for a 2-1 complete-game victory in front of 35,479 at Anaheim Stadium.

It was a typical Rogers performance this season. He struck out six, walked two and didn’t allow a runner past second base after the fourth inning. He is 9-4 this season and his 20 victories since July 6 of last year is the most among American League starters.

“I’m trying to let the league know that I’m a pitcher and not just a thrower anymore,” Rogers said. “I didn’t have good stuff at all early. My curveball was no good the first five innings, but it got better as the game went on.”

Still, he struggled with that pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, after Chad Curtis doubled down the third-base line with one out. After a curveball to the next batter, J.T. Snow, bounced in the dirt, Rogers soon had some company on the mound--Texas Manager Kevin Kennedy.

“He asked me what I was thinking when I bounced that pitch into the dirt,” Rogers said. “I was just worried about Curtis and not concentrating on the batter. I told him I was fine.”

Kennedy stuck with Rogers partly because of his durability and toughness late in games. He has seven complete games since May 18 and has pitched at least seven innings in 10 consecutive starts and 14 of 16 this season.

But the other reason Rogers stayed in was an unreliable Ranger bullpen that has blown 15 save opportunities this season, the most in the major leagues.

“I had all of them (relievers) down there warming up,” Kennedy said. “Sure, we have caved in a couple of times. But we needed Kenny and he rose to the occasion for us. I wanted him in there all the way. He was still strong.”

Strong enough to strike out Snow and then pinch-hitter Harold Reynolds, who was seven for 22 lifetime against Rogers. It was Rogers’ third strikeout of the inning, having caught Bo Jackson swinging to open the ninth.

“That was a tough last inning,” Rogers said. “But I felt pretty good.”

Rogers is off to the best start in six major league seasons. He had a six-game winning streak--the longest on the Rangers since Bobby Witt’s club-record 12 in 1990--broken last Sunday in a 5-0 loss to Oakland.

Unless Rogers goes the route of the Ranger bullpen before July, he’s almost a lock to make the All-Star team. But Kennedy is already lobbying for his left-hander.

“Kenny has pitched some great games for us,” Kennedy said. “He has made some great strides since June of last year. I would vote for him for the All-Star game.”

Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez won’t argue with Kennedy’s vote.

“You look at his record and you see he’s one of the top guys in the league,” Rodriguez said. “He was really sharp tonight--a good fastball and good location.”