Angels go softly into loss

Maybe there is such a thing as a good loss.

The Angels wouldn’t say as much, but when they fell, 4-3, Tuesday night against the Oakland A’s, it might not have been so bad.

First of all, on a day when the pitching rotation was thinned because the team put Bartolo Colon on the 15-day disabled list, and a day after the bullpen was taxed by pitching eight innings, Kelvim Escobar delivered a solid seven-inning performance.

Second, the Seattle Mariners, in pursuit of the Angels in the American League West, were swept in a doubleheader against the Texas Rangers, so the Angels, who have lost 15 of their last 23 games and had only six hits Tuesday, actually increased their division lead to 2 1/2 games.

Escobar (11-4) pitched seven innings, giving up three runs and nine hits while pitching in and out of early trouble and kept the Angels in the game. It was an outing welcomed for a pitching staff that is considered the strength of the team but is reeling a bit in recent days.

Aside from losing Colon, the staff also lost Ervin Santana, demoted to triple A because of ineffectiveness. And after the team gave up 12 runs to Oakland on Monday, Escobar helped stop the bleeding despite losing.

“We had to come in and do a better job as a pitching staff, starting with me,” said Escobar, who lost for the first time in nine starts. “After the first two innings, I had to find a way to get the hitters out and keep the game close.”

He did, but it wasn’t enough because the Angels ran into all kinds of problems against Lenny DiNardo, the A’s soft-tossing left-hander. DiNardo (5-6), in the rotation to replace injured Rich Harden, held the Angels hitless through the first three innings and gave up only one run and three hits before leaving with two out in the seventh and a 3-1 lead.

DiNardo’s array of 84-mph fastballs, 78-mph sliders and 68-mph curves had the Angels lunging and reaching most of the game.

After the A’s took a 4-1 lead in the top of the eighth on a two-out run-scoring single by Travis Buck, the Angels took advantage of DiNardo’s replacement, Santiago Casilla, and rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth to make it 4-3.

Maicer Izturis led off with a pinch-hit walk and went to third when Reggie Willits flared a double down the left field line. Chone Figgins hit a run-scoring fly to left to make it 4-2. One out later, Vladimir Guerrero legged out an infield single and pinch-hitter Casey Kotchman drove in Willits with a single to right, ending Casilla’s night.

Gary Matthews appeared to have tied the score, and possibly given the Angels the lead, with a line drive to the gap in right center, but Buck made a diving catch to end the rally.

Buck was a nuisance to the Angels on offense as well. He was four for five with a home run, double and three runs batted in.

But despite the loss and the news about Colon, Escobar said that he isn’t that concerned about the long-term effects on the pitching staff.

“When you are down, someone has to step up and I think this team is good at doing that,” he said. “There is always someone that comes from the minors and pitches good.”

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peter.yoon@latimes.com