Fullmer Finds a Way to Make Angels Pay

The Angels knew they would miss All-Star reliever Brendan Donnelly while he recovers from complications stemming from a broken nose suffered in spring training. They did not think they would miss departed designated hitter Brad Fullmer.

Although Donnelly had nothing to do with the Angels’ 7-6 loss to the Texas Rangers in front of 18,156 at the Ballpark in Arlington on Monday night, the right-hander’s absence was certainly felt.

And so was Fullmer’s. Painfully.

Fullmer, the former Angel who was not offered a contract last winter, provided the decisive blow for the Rangers, a pinch-hit three-run double against reliever Ben Weber that capped a five-run sixth inning. That gave Texas a 7-3 lead, a cushion it would need to absorb a late Angel rally and win three of four games in the series.

Weber replaced starter Jarrod Washburn with two on in the sixth and the Angels clinging to a 3-2 lead. Michael Young hit a down-and-away sinker to third baseman Shane Halter, who made a nice backhanded diving stop, but Halter’s throw to second was too late to catch the speedy Ramon Nivar.

The left-handed Hank Blalock reached out for another low-and-away sinker and flared a two-run single to left to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead. Alfonso Soriano’s groundout advanced the runners, and Mark Teixeira walked to load the bases.

Manager Buck Showalter sent the left-handed Fullmer to hit for Herbert Perry, and with no left-hander in his bullpen to counter the move, Manager Mike Scioscia stuck with Weber. Fullmer found the gap in right-center field, three runs scored and the Rangers widened the gap on the Angels.

“I thought Web made some good pitches,” Scioscia said. “You have to give them credit. I don’t know how Young even got his bat on that ball, Nivar got a great jump to beat the force, and Blalock went with a sinker away. They did some nice hitting and baserunning, and we couldn’t minimize the damage.”

Weber heard his manager’s assessment but didn’t necessarily agree with it.

“That’s sugar-coating it ... good pitches ... I blew the game, that’s the bottom line,” Weber said. “I made some good pitches, yeah, but the bottom line is I lost the game.”

Had Donnelly been available, Weber might not have been in the game. Scioscia probably would have used Francisco Rodriguez, who limited left-handers to a .185 average last season, and Donnelly, who held lefties to a .199 average, to cover the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and closer Troy Percival in the ninth.

But with Donnelly out, Rodriguez has assumed primary set-up duties, limiting him to the seventh and eighth innings, and Weber and Scot Shields have moved from middle relief to short relief.

“Where we are right now, if you put Donnelly in our bullpen, we’d be able to match up better,” Scioscia said. “I have a lot of confidence in Web, but the depth Donnelly brings would have given us some better matchups. There are guys in different roles, and the bullpen is stretched a bit, and that will show up sometimes.”

Fullmer noticed the difference.

“I still think it’s a good bullpen,” he said, “but any time you lose an All-Star, it’s going to hurt you.”

With the Angels signing outfielders Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Guillen and moving right fielder Tim Salmon to designated hitter, they were confident they could absorb the loss of Fullmer, who suffered a season-ending knee injury June 26. What they had trouble absorbing was Fullmer’s addition to the Rangers.

Fullmer, a key member of the Angels’ 2002 World Series-winning team, signed a one-year, $1-million deal with Texas, and he said during spring training that he hoped to prove the Angels made a mistake by not re-signing him. But he said he didn’t gain any extra satisfaction beating his former teammates.

“I want to do a solid job, produce runs, and if that translates into doing it against the Angels, so be it -- we play them a lot of times,” Fullmer said. “It was one of those things where it became clear they didn’t see me in their long-term plans. I wanted to go where I was wanted.”