Angels Take Their Hits, Lose

The line drive crashed into Jarrod Washburn’s pitching arm, and you were about ready to say this is not going to be the Angels’ year. But he was not injured, so you could take a deep breath and wonder.

On the positive side, the Angel ace made his season debut, pitched well and escaped injury. On the negative side, the Angels failed to get a clutch hit, used suspect strategy in deploying their bench and did little to sway conventional wisdom that the Oakland Athletics are the better team.

John Halama, the sort of soft-tossing left-hander that gives the Angels fits, pitched into the sixth inning and did not give up an earned run in a 4-2 victory Saturday. The A’s have won the first two games of this series without the assistance of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder or Barry Zito.

Hudson pitches tonight, for the sweep. The Angels already have lost to Oakland’s far less distinguished starters, Halama and Ted Lilly.

“You’d like to think you can get those guys,” the Angels’ Tim Salmon said, “but it’s early. I don’t think it matters who’s pitching. Everybody is just trying to get themselves going.”

The Angels are 1-8 against Halama. He threw one pitch at 61 mph Saturday, with most pitches in the 70s and low 80s. And, no, he does not throw a knuckleball.

He does throw an assortment of pitches, many that bend, some slow and some slower, all with enviable precision and all capable of inducing frustration.

“From a pitching standpoint, you’ve got to take your hat off to him,” Salmon said. “From an offensive standpoint, it stinks. It stinks getting jammed by an 82-mph fastball. They get you thinking soft, soft, soft, away, away, away. Then they throw one in on your hands and it’s like, what happened?

“That’s how guys like him and Jamie Moyer have success.”

After Hudson closes this series, Moyer opens the Angels’ next series, in Seattle on Tuesday.

On Saturday, the Angels went one for eight with runners in scoring position. In the sixth inning, with men on second and third and one out, Bengie Molina swung at the first pitch and popped up.

In the eighth inning, Troy Glaus homered, cutting the Oakland lead to 4-2. The Angels had two left-handed bats on the bench, but each got into the game in the eighth inning without getting a chance to hit, and neither was available when needed in the ninth.

With two out in the eighth and left-handed reliever Ricardo Rincon warming up, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia sent the left-handed Brad Fullmer to bat for Benji Gil. Oakland Manager Ken Macha summoned Rincon, of course, and Scioscia countered with Shawn Wooten. Although Wooten singled, he was thrown out rounding first base, ending the inning.

Scioscia said he wanted to get to one of two matchups: the right-handed Eric Owens against Rincon, or Kennedy against right-handed closer Keith Foulke.

But Scioscia put Kennedy in at second base -- and in the spot originally occupied by Gil. So, when Foulke pitched the ninth inning, the Angels had no left-handed batters available, and he retired in order Molina, Owens and David Eckstein.

The Angels awarded their last bench spot to the right-handed Julio Ramirez, bypassing switch-hitters Jeff DaVanon and Chone Figgins. When the Angels face a right-handed starter, they have no left-handed bats on the bench.

“I don’t know if we’re strapped,” Scioscia said. “I think we have enough balance.”

Washburn, whose season debut was delayed by a sprained shoulder, held the A’s to two runs over the first six innings and retired 11 consecutive batters at one point. He tired in the seventh, giving up two more runs, but he made a healthy 108 pitches and did not walk anyone.

“Overall, I was pleased,” he said, “just not with the outcome.”

With two out in the seventh, Scioscia decided Washburn was about to face his last batter. Mark Ellis was up, Adam Piatt was on deck, and Piatt already had homered and doubled.

Ellis smacked a line drive up the middle, off Washburn’s left arm. The Angels spent all spring telling themselves all those nagging injuries in spring training would not matter come the start of the season, and in his first start their ace got hit hard, literally.

Fortunately for the Angels, it was only a bruise, nothing much to worry about. It was the only break that went their way all day.