Angels Power Down

For Kevin Appier, beating the Texas Rangers has been like solving a Rubik’s Cube that has one missing piece.

No matter how close he comes, the Angel pitcher always has fallen short.

That was the case again Monday, when Appier gave up only five hits over 6 1/3 innings. Problem was, three of those hits were home runs as the Rangers beat the Angels, 4-0, before 24,296 at The Ballpark in Arlington.

Carl Everett hit a pair of solo homers into the upper deck and Hank Blalock added a solo shot as the Rangers ended the Angels’ five-winning streak and continued a tear in which they have homered in 11 consecutive games.

“That’s a tough club to pitch against,” said Appier, who has lost nine consecutive decisions to the Rangers and hasn’t beaten them since May 23, 1996, as a member of the Kansas City Royals. “Their whole lineup is good.”

For one night, at least, Ranger pitching was top-notch as well. Ismael Valdes (2-1) defeated the Angels for the second time this season, giving up five hits and two walks over eight innings while striking out seven. Francisco Cordero pitched a scoreless ninth to give the Rangers their first shutout since June 21, 2002.

“I was hitting the corners and throwing strikes when I needed to,” said Valdes, who was shelled for eight runs in four innings in his last appearance, a loss against the Oakland Athletics.

But he rebounded nicely against an Angel lineup that scored 26 runs in a three-game sweep of Oakland over the weekend. The Angels got their leadoff hitter on base only twice -- they were erased each time, David Eckstein on a double play in the first inning and Bengie Molina on a force in the eighth -- and reached third base only once.

The Angels’ best scoring opportunity came in the sixth, when Eckstein singled with one out and moved to third one out later on Tim Salmon’s single off Alex Rodriguez’s glove.

But Valdes struck out Garret Anderson to end the threat.

“The stuff he’s had the two times we’ve faced him is the best stuff he’s had the last three to four years we’ve faced him,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said.

“He has uncanny command and when he combines that with velocity, he’s tough.”

As potent as they’ve been at Edison Field, where they’re averaging 8.3 runs, the Angels have been equally listless on the road. They’re averaging 2.7 runs as the visitors and have a 2-5 record.

“I don’t think it has to do with where we’re playing,” Scioscia said, “it has to do with how we’re playing, and tonight we weren’t doing anything offensively.”

The Rangers couldn’t relate. Blalock homered to right on a full count in the bottom of the first inning and Everett, who told Valdes before the game he would hit him two homers, made good on his promise with long balls in the second and seventh innings.

“I told him, ‘Thank you,’ ” Valdes said.

Michael Young followed Everett’s second homer with a triple off Appier (1-2) that skipped past a hard-charging Salmon and rolled to the wall.

Young then scored on Einar Diaz’s single just over the reach of a drawn-in Eckstein to set the final margin.

It was another frustrating turn of events for Appier against the Rangers.

“He gave us a chance to win,” Scioscia said of the veteran right-hander. “He gave up three home runs and that hit that got past Salmon. Other than that, there weren’t a lot of guys in scoring position.”