When Facing Angels, Rogers Knows How to Hold ‘Em

At least they got a hit off him this time. They couldn’t beat him, but they managed to hit him a little.

Texas starter Kenny Rogers humiliated the Angels with his perfect game last July 28 at Arlington, Tex. He wasn’t quite so impressive Thursday afternoon at Anaheim Stadium, but the Angels still couldn’t make a dent against the left-hander.

With his day’s work done, Rogers couldn’t explain his domination over the Angels, lapsing into a string of tired cliches that could have been lifted straight from “Bull Durham.”

No question Rogers can pitch, particularly when he faces the Angels, but getting a handle on the reasons for his success seems to escape him.

“Every game is different,” he said after limiting the Angels to four hits in eight innings of work in the Rangers’ 6-2 victory. “So far I’ve done well against them. But this game is in the past.”

Master of the Angels. Master of the obvious.

Rogers extended his scoreless streak against the Angels to 24 innings. He won his fifth consecutive start against them and is 6-1 with a 1.88 earned-run average lifetime. He beat them, 2-1, last June 24 at Anaheim Stadium before pitching the 11th perfect game in the major leagues since 1900.

Dave Valle, catching Rogers for the first time, offered a more revealing look at Thursday’s victory.

“He threw the sinker when he got into trouble,” Valle said. “When they were laying off it that’s when he got behind in the count.”

Why is Rogers so tough on the Angels? Valle shrugged.

“It’s one of those things about the game that’s inexplicable,” Valle said.

Manager Johnny Oates pointed at the second inning as the pivotal moment in the game. The Angels had runners on first and third with no outs, but Rogers struck out Greg Myers and got J.T. Snow to pop up. After walking Eduardo Perez to load the bases, Rogers got Gary DiSarcina, batting .340 with a seven-game hitting streak going into his first at-bat, to pop up to end the inning.

The Angels’ didn’t threaten to score again until Rogers had left the game after the eighth inning.

“That was a big inning for him,” Oates said. “That gave him a big lift to get out of that inning without allowing a run.”

Oates had no thoughts of having Rogers finish the game for what would have been the first complete game in the American League and only the second in the majors this season.

Rogers said he didn’t mind coming out of the game after 117 pitches. He was content to have stifled the Angels for so long.

“It’s still early,” he said. “I really don’t want to throw 130 pitches right now. A shutout wasn’t what I was looking for. I was looking to give our bullpen a break.”