Angels Relieved to Get a Win

That was quite a hand of Texas Hold ‘em the Angels bullpen played Thursday night, Hector Carrasco, Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez combining for five scoreless innings behind injured starter Kelvim Escobar to lead the Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Rangers in Ameriquest Field.

But unless the offense can find a way to ease the burden on a beleaguered pitching staff over these final two weeks, the Angels, who pulled within five games of idle Oakland in the American League West with 15 games left, will be eliminated from playoff contention on the flop.

After nearly being no-hit by White Sox right-hander Freddy Garcia Wednesday, the Angels managed seven hits Thursday, one a two-run home run by catcher Jose Molina off the hardly heralded Edinson Volquez in the fifth inning, a shot to center field that followed Adam Kennedy’s single.

The Angels have scored 13 runs in their last six games, and five of their last eight victories have come by one run, leaving virtually no margin of error for their pitchers, a point starter John Lackey drove home after Monday’s 3-2 loss to Chicago, when he said, “You try not to give up the first run; you definitely pitch more carefully.”

The Angels didn’t crack under that pressure Thursday -- Carrasco threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings, escaping a first-and-third, one-out jam in the sixth, when he struck out Mark DeRosa and got Ian Kinsler to ground out.

Shields added a scoreless inning, and Rodriguez, who entered with two on and two out in the eighth, retired the four batters he faced, three by strikeout, to extend his scoreless streak to 30 2/3 innings and record his 42nd save.

But if the Angels have to win just about every night to have any chance of catching the A’s, and if they insist on playing close, low-scoring games, what will be left of the back of their bullpen by the end of this month?

“The bottom line is we need to start scoring runs,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’re not going to be able to keep tapping into the resources of Brendan Donnelly, Carrasco, Shields and Frankie on a nightly basis. We brought Shields and Frankie in an inning earlier than usual tonight.

“At some point we need to score some runs, and we’re going to look at that very closely and see if there are any alternatives. There is a lot riding game to game, and we need to have our bullpen intact if we’re going to make the run we need.”

Scioscia said there could be changes, either in the lineup, the batting order, or both. He wouldn’t be specific, but it’s possible players such as Robb Quinlan, Tim Salmon, Reggie Willits and Dallas McPherson could be inserted tonight.

“We could give someone else some at-bats to see if they can get hot,” Scioscia said. “We might use some different groupings to see if it can give us a spark. We’re going to see.”

The manager hopes he won’t have to shuffle his rotation next week, but that could hinge on the result of today’s MRI test on Escobar’s left knee.

Escobar, who left after giving up one run and two hits in four innings, was diagnosed with patella tendinitis, a condition he has pitched with all season and that has prevented him from running between starts.

“It’s been sore, but it usually gets better as the game goes on,” said Escobar, who believes he’ll be able to make his next start, as long as the MRI shows no serious damage. “Tonight, it got worse, not better. It was painful, and I had trouble getting the ball down. I was pulling my front shoulder.”

With two off days next week, Scioscia could juggle his rotation to give Escobar an extra few days of rest.

“We’ll see how he feels,” Scioscia said. “There’s never a good time for this, but with the off days, there are things we can do to keep him healthy.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com