Quality start for Haren; quality added to rotation
Dan Haren delivered a little forget-me-not bouquet to Angels fans Friday night.
On a day the veteran righthander was pushed to the fourth spot in the rotation by the acquisition of Zack Greinke, Haren delivered his second quality start since coming off the disabled list, allowing one run and five hits in six innings of a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Angel Stadium.
The Angels bunched four straight two-out hits in the third inning — Mike Trout’s single, Torii
Hunter’s bunt single, Albert Pujols’ two-run double and Mark
Trumbo’s RBI single — to move to within four games of Texas in the American League West.
Reliever Kevin Jepsen bailed out Haren from a two-on, no-out jam in the seventh, getting Ryan
Roberts and Jose Lobaton to fly out and striking out Elliot Johnson. Scott Downs threw a scoreless eighth and Ernesto Frieri a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.
Haren’s lower-back stiffness, which sent him to the disabled list with a 6-6 record and 4.86 earnedrun average in early July, and Ervin
Santana’s struggles were the primary reasons General Manager
Jerry Dipoto fortified the rotation with Greinke. But Haren appears to have reestablished himself in his last two starts, allowing three runs and eight hits in 12 innings of wins over the Rangers and Rays, giving the Angels, who also have Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson, four highquality starters.
“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Haren said of the Greinke deal. “He’s a guy I’ve admired for a while. He’s the definition of electric stuff, the opposite of me. My game is command, his game is command and a live arsenal of pitches. It’s going to be fun having him in our clubhouse.”
Trade chips
The Angels gave up three of their top nine prospects, according to Baseball America, to get Greinke. Shortstop Jean Segura (No. 2) hit .294 with 33 stolen bases at double-A Arkansas before being promoted to the big leagues last Sunday.
Johnny Hellweg (No. 4), a 6foot-9 right-hander, was 5-10 with a 3.38 ERA at Arkansas, and Ariel Pena (No. 9), a 6-3 right-hander, was 6-6 with a 2.99 ERA at Arkansas.
“Those guys are going to go on to do good things,” Dipoto said. “We were aggressive and made a deal with players who were, quite frankly, painful to lose.”
But not as painful as losing pitcher Garrett Richards, 24, and center fielder Peter Bourjos, 25, both subjects of heavy trade speculation.
“We believe in Garrett Richards as part of this club in the present and future,” Dipoto said. “And it was important to preserve Peter not only for 2012 but for 2013 and beyond.”
Dipoto said the Angels probably won’t make more moves before Tuesday’s nonwaiver trade deadline.
“In all likelihood,” he said, “this is all we’ll do.”
Roster moves
Shortstop Erick Aybar, who suffered a hairline fracture in his right big toe last Sunday, was placed on the DL Friday, and infielder Andrew Romine was recalled from triple-A. Outfielder Vernon Wells, out since May 20, was activated after a seven-game rehabilitation stint at Salt Lake.
Wells was the starting left fielder when he got hurt, but with outfielders Trout and Trumbo emerging as stars, Wells will share time at designated hitter and spell players in the outfield.
“When I get opportunities, I’ll make the most of them,” said Wells, whose $21-million salary makes him one of baseball’s highest-paid bench players. “I’m not a person that’s going to cause trouble.”