Haren, Angels close series with Orioles
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dan Haren tries to put his early season struggles behind him this afternoon when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim try to complete a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium.
Haren is winless in three starts (0-1) and has pitched to a 4.76 earned run average. However, he is coming off his best outing of the season on Tuesday against Oakland, as he allowed just a run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings of his team's 5-3 loss.
"For Danny, it was a terrific start that got us to a point in the game that we needed to," manager Mike Scioscia said after the bullpen squandered Haren's 2-1 lead on Tuesday, leaving him with a no-decision. "We just couldn't get those last outs."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Haren, who is 5-3 with a 4.21 ERA in 10 starts versus the Orioles, will be trying to follow up a terrific outing from Jered Weaver in Saturday's middle contest.
Weaver (3-0) tossed the ninth complete game of his career and was backed by a five-run fifth inning, as the Angels took a 6-3 decision. He needed 114 pitches to finish off his gem, having allowed just five hits and three runs while fanning five.
"My fastball command worked early, and then I mixed in some offspeed late," Weaver said. "It was great to go out in the ninth and give our bullpen a rest."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kendrys Morales and Erick Aybar each had two hits and drove in a run, while Bobby Abreu added a two-run single in the pivotal frame, sending the Angels to back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Matt Wieters homered and drove in all three runs for Baltimore, which has lost three of four and has managed just seven runs in doing so.
Both Weaver and his counterpart, Jake Arrieta (1-1), dominated the first four innings before beginning to look human in the fifth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Weaver set down the first 12 batters he faced prior to Adam Jones beating out an infield single, and Wieters, on a 3-0 count, hammered one into the right- field bleachers for his fifth home run of the season.
Arrieta retired 12 in a row after Aybar's leadoff single, but the Angels got to him in their half of the fifth.
Hoping for a similar effort today, the Orioles will turn to Taiwanese right- hander Wei-Yin Chen, who is coming off his first major league win. Chen defeated Chicago on Tuesday, holding the White Sox to a pair of runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings to run his record to 1-0 to go along with a 3.27 ERA.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is just like a dream come true," Chen said after the game, through his interpreter. "This is my first win, and it seems like this is a dream when I was in high school. It feels special. I can't say any words at all."
The Angels were 6-3 versus the O's a year ago after Baltimore won all six games in the 2010 season series. Los Angeles, though, has now outscored Baltimore 36-18 while winning the last five meetings in Anaheim.