Tampa Bay’s Hit Parade Tramples Dickson, Angels

The right shoulder that Jason Dickson had surgically repaired in 1999; the one with the torn labrum that sidelined him all last season; the one he worked so diligently to rehabilitate last fall and winter; the one Angel fans feared trainers were checking when they came to the mound early Friday night . . . is fine.

So from that standpoint, the Angels’ 11-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before 31,888 at Edison Field could have been a lot more devastating.

But Dickson was pulled in the second inning because of a strained left hip flexor, the muscle between the hip and quadriceps, and any time a starter has to leave because of injury, there is reason for concern.

The right-hander is listed as day to day, but a strained hip flexor, like a strained groin or hamstring, can flare up if not completely healed. And because the hip flexor is a muscle Dickson uses every time he lifts his leg to wind up, he probably won’t be able to pitch again until he’s fully healed.

“Any time you’re dealing with a leg injury for a pitcher, it has to be treated as aggressively and with as much attention as an arm injury,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “If you’re not getting yourself in the proper position to pitch, you could risk straining other parts of your body, like your arm or shoulder.”

If Friday night is any indication, pitching with a strained hip flexor is about as difficult as pitching with a sore elbow.

Most of Dickson’s pitches were up in the zone, and the fastballs he had masterfully spotted on the corners in his first four starts, when he went 2-1 with a 2.84 earned-run average, usually split the plate in half.

The results were predictable: Dickson was bombed for six runs on seven hits, including five in the Devil Rays’ three-run first inning and Greg Vaughn’s three-run homer in the second, in 1 1/3 innings. He threw only 40 pitches and walked two, doubling his season total. He struck out none.

Dickson told Scioscia after he was pulled that he felt a little discomfort warming up. Scioscia wished his pitcher had told him before the game.

“You’d rather get a little heads-up,” Scioscia said. “That gives us something to watch for. Some guys pitch with aches and pains and are fine. But it’s not in Jason’s makeup to look for an alibi or ways out of games. He doesn’t give in to little twinges. It’s a double-edged sword. That can make you great, but sometimes it can hurt you.”

Given the same situation in the future, would Dickson tell Scioscia about an injury before taking the mound?

“Most definitely,” Dickson said. “You don’t want to make any excuses, but sometimes your ego gets in the way and you want to macho yourself through instead of stepping back and saying something. . . . I could tell something was wrong, but I thought adrenaline would take over in the game.

“But it makes you change your mechanics and gets you off your game plan. On one hand you want to tough it out, but six runs in two innings doesn’t give your team a chance to win.”

The Angels, who erased all but one run of a 10-run deficit in a 12-11 loss to Toronto on April 20, looked for a moment as if they might be game for another comeback when Garret Anderson hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, trimming the deficit to 6-2.

But Dave Martinez slapped a two-run single off Angel reliever Kent Mercker in the third, and Angel right-hander Derrick Turnbow, making his U.S. debut--his only two appearances this season were in Toronto--gave up three runs in the sixth, as the Devil Rays pulled away.

Greg Vaughn also opened the sixth with a home run, the 299th of his career, and matched a career high with his first four-hit game since July 8, 1993. Tampa Bay set a franchise record for hits in a nine-inning game with 19 and have won four of five games over the Angels this season.

Reliever-turned-starter Esteban Yan gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings to gain his first victory in eight tries as a starter. Darin Erstad, the major leagues’ leading batter with a .459 average, singled in the eighth for his 45th hit in April, breaking the Angel record for hits in a month set by Garret Anderson in July 1998.