Rays fall again, drop to 0-5 with loss to Angels

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Dan Haren added to the woes of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The winless Rays lost again Wednesday when Haren and the Los Angeles Angels shut down the AL East champions 5-1.

The Rays fell to 0-5 and for the fourth time finished with exactly one run and four hits.

"You can look at it two ways," Haren said. "You can look at it that, they're struggling, so you pounce on them. Or, the game of averages and they'll probably start hitting at some point. I know they're not swinging the bats well now, but I'm glad we got them at this time because we come back here in a couple weeks and they'll probably be a different team."

Rookie Jeremy Hellickson (0-1) lost despite striking out 10 in 5 2-3 innings.

Tampa Bay designated hitter Manny Ramirez, who has one hit in 17 at-bats this season, was out of the starting lineup. He flied out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and will miss Thursday's game at the Chicago White Sox while tending to a personal matter.

"They've pitched better than us and they're hitting better than us right now," Ramirez said. "That's part of the game. Whoever plays better is the one that's going to win."

"How many games have we've played?" Ramirez added. "We've got plenty of time."

Johnny Damon moved out of left field to replace Ramirez as the DH. Damon went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, and is 1 for 15 this year.

Haren (1-0) scattered four hits over 7 2-3 innings and struck out six. Relievers Kevin Jepsen and Jordan Walden completed the combined four-hitter.

"Maybe about three or four pitches he didn't hit what he wanted to," Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. "I don't think it's a secret what Dan does, but he really does it well. He's got an uncanny ability to just repeat a delivery and repeat a pitch."

Alberto Callaspo homered for Los Angeles. The third baseman had two RBIs in the Angels' 5-3 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.

B.J. Upton homered for the second straight game, a solo shot during the fifth that pulled the Rays within 2-1.

Bobby Abreu put the Angels up 1-0 with an RBI double in the first. Callaspo hit a solo home run in the fourth.

Los Angeles took a 3-1 lead on Jeff Mathis' run-scoring double in the sixth. Mark Trumbo, who had his first career three-hit game, extended the Angels' advantage to 4-1 with an eighth-inning RBI single.

Torii Hunter singled home a run in the ninth.

Tampa Bay will turn to ace David Price in an attempt to stop its five-game skid on Thursday.

"Noboby in here is panicking," Price said. "We, obviously, need to win a game."

NOTES: Abreu has 525 career doubles, which is the same number as Hall of Famer Ted Williams. ... Angels INF Erick Aybar underwent an MRI exam on his strained left oblique. It showed a slight strain, but Aybar is not expected to start in Friday's home opener. ... Upton is the only Tampa Bay player with a hit in all five games this season. ... Hellickson's previous strikeout high was seven, accomplished during a limited stint with Tampa Bay last year. .. Tampa Bay RHP Mike Ekstrom cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Durham. ... Abreu has reached base in 11 of his last 15 plate appearances.