Angel starter Dan Haren’s effort is all for naught in 2-1 loss to Rangers
The curtain came down early on Dan Haren’s Angels debut Monday. He threw only 62 pitches, the last of which Boston Red Sox slugger Kevin Youkilis lined off Haren’s right forearm, forcing the pitcher out of the game.
On Saturday, Haren received a do-over, against the American League West-leading Texas Rangers, who began the game eight games ahead of the Angels, the biggest division lead in the majors.
Angels fans saw Saturday why the club traded for Haren: He threw a complete game — 119 pitches — giving the Angels a chance to win.
But he’d like one of those pitches back. It’s the fastball he threw to Vladimir Guerrero in the fourth inning, the one that was supposed to be inside but ended up down the middle, about 10 inches above the dirt.
Guerrero golfed the ball to left-center field for a two-run home run that proved enough in the Rangers’ 2-1 win at Angel Stadium.
“He can hit just about anything out of the park,” Haren said. “I wish I had that pitch back. It cost us the game.”
Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said Haren “pitched his heart out,” and that even the pitch he threw to Guerrero wasn’t that bad of a pitch.
“We felt very comfortable that he was going to execute all his pitches, and he did,” Scioscia said.
The Angels left seven runners on base, including five in scoring position, but Scioscia excused them because of the performance by Rich Harden, who returned from the disabled list for Texas to make his first start since June 11. Harden, who played with Haren in Oakland in 2005-07, threw seven innings, giving up five hits and one run.
“We had some opportunities,” Scioscia said, “but it’s not always what the hitter can do in the box. The pitcher has to cooperate and give you a ball to handle, and I thought guys weren’t scoring because Harden really stepped up and made pitches.”
Technically, the loss goes to Haren (1-2) and puts the Rangers nine games ahead.
Seven of the 11 meetings between the Rangers and Angels this season have been decided by one run, and 20 of the last 29 between these two have been decided by three runs or fewer.
Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton, the batting leader in the majors, was scratched from the lineup Saturday because of an injury. David Murphy batted third in Hamilton’s place and walked in the fourth inning before Guerrero came to bat.
Haren said he got Guerrero out on an inside pitch in the first inning and intended to do so again. But he said the pitch slipped and Guerrero jumped on it for his 89th home run in Angel Stadium, which ended a season-long 16-game homerless streak.
The former Angel must still have been smoking after his last visit to Angel Stadium, when he knocked in eight runs in three games, including a grand slam and another home run in the Rangers’ 6-4 win June 30.
Haren, who threw his 11th complete game and only his second in losing fashion, said he figured Saturday might be close, especially after a 9-7 victory by the Angels on Friday in which they came back from a 5-0 deficit.
“Just wish it was a better result,” he said.
The Angels’ run came off the bat of Howie Kendrick, who hit his eighth home run and first since June 19 to center field in the seventh inning, the only run Harden gave up.
The home run came on a 1-and-0, 95-mph fastball that sailed into the shrubbery.
But it wasn’t enough.
“We really couldn’t get anything going on the offensive side,” Scioscia said.
Chalk it up as the eighth loss for the Angels in their last 10 games.
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