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Angels escape with win over Texas Rangers, but Dan Haren gets nothing again

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Given that this is Texas, it was no surprise that the biggest cheer at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Saturday came when Cowboys linebacker Bradie James threw out the first pitch.

He bounced it.

Then the Angels’ Dan Haren took the mound and showed him how it’s done -- though he, too, had little to show for it after his bullpen gave up an eighth-inning lead in a game the Angels rallied to win in the ninth, 3-2.

Maicer Izturis’ two-out single to left scored Jeff Mathis with the go-ahead run one pitch after the Rangers believed the inning had ended on check-swing strike by Bobby Abreu. But third-base umpire Mike Muchlinski, working the game only because Tom Hallion was suffering the effects of a pitch that bounced off his mask late in Friday’s game, said Abreu held up, leading to a walk and bringing Izturis to the plate.

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Scott Downs (1-0), who retired the only batter he faced, wound up with the win, and Jordan Walden got the save, his seventh. But Haren, who allowed only one run in the 7 2/3 innings he was on the mound, got nothing.

Hard-luck Haren hasn’t won in five starts dating to April 17, though he has a 2.62 ERA over that span. Two of those games were lost in the bullpen and another nearly was Saturday when Fernando Rodney came on with two outs and a runner on second in the eighth and promptly gave up a ground ball to Michael Young that rolled up shortstop Erick Aybar’s arm and into center field for a score-tying single.

But then Haren should be used to getting little support from his teammates, who have scored just eight times behind him in his last five starts. Alberto Callaspo supplied the only offense he got Saturday with a pair of run-scoring doubles, the first with two outs in the fourth and the second with one out in the sixth, when Howie Kendrick scored all the way from first.

That was almost enough for Haren, who gave up four hits to the first seven batters he faced, then retired 15 of the next 16 until Adrian Beltre broke the spell with a single leading off the seventh. An inning later, Kinsler doubled to left with two out in the eighth, chasing Haren. And three pitches after Rodney came on, Young singled in the tying run.

The Rangers’ first run came in in the second inning on consecutive hits by Mitch Moreland, Beltre and David Murphy.

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-- Kevin Baxter in Arlington, Texas

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