HAREN QUIETS ANGELS' RED-HOT BATS HE GIVES UP JUST A SOLO HOMER TO RIVERA IN OAKLAND'S VICTORY OVER L.A. OAKLAND 3, ANGELS 1.

Byline: BEN VILLA Staff writer

ANAHEIM -- The Angels didn't make any moves at the trade deadline, insisting that they could win the division without adding a big bat, but after Monday's game, it sure looked like they could still use one.

After scorching for most of July, the Angels offense reverted to its old form in a 3-1 loss to the Oakland A's in front of 43,558 fans at Angel Stadium.

Dan Haren pitched a complete game to win his eighth game of the year, and Jay Payton and former Dodger Milton Bradley each hit home runs for the A's, who extended their lead over the Angels in the AL West to 1 1/2 games.

``We had our chances, we just couldn't get a big hit,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``And Ervin (Santana) pitched great all night. He only made two bad pitches, but unfortunately for us, they didn't miss them.''

After struggling on offense early in the season, the Angels got red hot in July, averaging 6.4 runs a game while batting .308.

So, when they couldn't get a deal done before Monday's trade deadline for a player such as Washington outfielder Alfonso Soriano or Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada, hardly anybody in the front office was worried.

On Monday, however, the offense that had carried them to a 19-6 record to that point in July fell back into some old, bad habits, including going 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position, swinging at a lot of early pitches and not making Haren work hard at all.

Perhaps the Angels could be excused from their performance Monday because of fatigue.

After playing a night game Sunday in Boston, the Angels flew all night and didn't get into their beds until about 5 a.m.

Most of the players were allowed to come to the ballpark late Monday, and they didn't have to be in uniform until 5:30 p.m., just an hour and a half before the game started.

``I think everybody was OK, our energy was good,'' Scioscia said. ``Haren threw a heck of a game, and that was the story, not fatigue.''

The Angels did manage to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a solo home run by Juan Rivera. It was Rivera's 17th of the year and 11th of the month, tying Don Baylor (1979) for the most home runs in franchise history in July.

But any momentum the Angels had was gone by the top of the sixth inning, when the A's finally got to Santana for a run.

Santana, who was the subject of many trade rumors -- most notably the ones for Tejada -- was cruising through the first five innings. He got the first two outs in the top of the sixth before Bradley stepped up to the plate and hit a slider for his seventh home run of the season, tying the score. It was the second straight game in which the former Dodger hit a big home run. On Sunday, he hit the first walk-off home run of his career, a three-run shot off Toronto Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan to win the game 6-5.

Monday, the A's took the lead for good in the top of the seventh inning, when Eric Chavez led off with a single and came around to score one batter later when Jay Payton smashed another slider over the left-field wall for a two-run home run.

``The trade rumors never bothered me,'' Santana said. ``I don't care about them at all, but I am frustrated because I made one bad pitch. I thought the slider to Bradley was a good one, but the pitch to Payton, he was waiting for it and he hit it good.''

That was all the runs Haren would need.

He scattered eight hits and when the bottom of the ninth inning rolled around, he had thrown just 96 pitches and still had plenty left in the tank.

Vladimir Guerrero, who didn't have a good at-bat all night, swung at Haren's second pitch of the inning and grounded out easily to shortstop. Haren then made Garret Anderson and Rivera both look foolish.

He struck out Anderson on a ball in the dirt, and he caught Rivera looking on a fastball down the middle.

Haren was so dominant that he retired 13 out of the last 14 batters he faced, needing only 105 pitches and a little more than two hours to complete the game.

``He went out and made adjustments, and he did a good job of mixing in his pitches,'' Angels first baseman Howie Kendrick said. ``As the game went on, he minimized his mistakes and it was tough getting to him.''

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Ervin Santana stares at the ball after allowing a home run to Oakland's Milton Bradley, background, on Monday.

(2) Oakland's Jay Payton gets a hug from his teammate Milton Bradley after Payton hit a two-run home run.

(3) Dan Haren gave up eight hits, but gave up only one run in pitching the Oakland A's to victory.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Box:

ANGELS vs. OAKLAND

- Ben Villa