Angels’ 12-2 loss to Brewers is painful

You won’t find Angels versus Milwaukee in the heavyweight division of baseball rivalries with Yankees versus Red Sox and Dodgers versus Giants; Monday night marked the first time the Angels and Brewers had met since 2004.

But there is definitely some tension between the teams after Milwaukee’s Casey McGehee took out shortstop Erick Aybar with a hard and questionable slide into second base in the seventh inning of the Brewers’ 12-2 victory in Angel Stadium.

When Aybar, whose left knee bore the brunt of the collision, had to be helped off the field, it appeared a team that lost first baseman Kendry Morales to a season-ending broken leg May 29 might lose another key infielder for an extended period.

Aybar has been one of the Angels’ hottest hitters this month, batting .393 (22 for 56) with four doubles, two triples, 11 runs and six runs batted in on the team’s last trip.

But the injury was not as serious as it first looked; the leadoff batter received a diagnosis of a hyperextension of the left knee and is listed as day to day.

Still, that probably did little to mollify the Angels, who had to wonder about McGehee’s motives.

The Brewers were well on their way to a lopsided victory, riding Ryan Braun’s third-inning grand slam against starter Joe Saunders, Randy Wolf’s solid start (seven innings, two earned runs, three hits), McGehee’s solo homer in the sixth and four runs against Trevor Bell in the seventh for a 10-2 lead.

McGehee was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second with one out, when Carlos Gomez hit a ground ball to first baseman Kevin Frandsen, whose throw to second for the force was a little high and to Aybar’s right.

Aybar lunged to catch the throw and reached his left leg back to touch the bag, leaving him in a prone position.

Though it was highly unlikely the Angels would turn a double play, and though the Brewers had a huge lead, McGehee barreled into Aybar with considerable force, bending his left leg backward at the knee and knocking him to the ground.

Saunders was 4-1 with a 2.63 earned-run average and two complete games in his previous six starts, and the left-hander started well Monday night, retiring the first seven batters he faced.

But Alcides Escobar hit a one-out single to left in the third, No. 9 hitter George Kottaras stroked a run-scoring double to right, and after Rickie Weeks grounded to shortstop, Corey Hart reached on an infield single and Prince Fielder walked to load the bases.

Braun followed with a towering drive that cleared the center-field wall for his third career grand slam, his 10th home run of the season and a 5-2 Milwaukee lead.

The Angels took a 2-0 lead with a two-out rally that featured singles by Howie Kendrick and Juan Rivera, Mike Napoli’s walk and Frandsen’s two-run double down the right-field line.

Wolf, the former Dodger who gave up a career-high five home runs in his last start, a 9-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, ran into trouble again in the third when the Angels loaded the bases with two out on two walks and a hit batter.

But Wolf, who signed a three-year, $29.75-million deal with Milwaukee last winter, got Rivera to fly to right to end the inning and retired the next 12 batters in a row before