Angels win bragging rights, but lose Guerrero
Dodgers refuse to recognize rival's name change, fall 9-0
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LOS ANGELES - While the Angels won the opening game in the much-hyped meeting between the two teams using Los Angeles in their names, their victory proved costly when AL MVP Vladimir Guerrero left with an injury that left his team worried.
Jarrod Washburn pitched seven sharp innings in the Angels’ 9-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night — the Angels’ first regular-season game in Los Angeles since renaming themselves the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Guerrero got hurt in the fifth while sliding on his stomach to try to avoid a tag by catcher Jason Phillips. The right fielder was attempting to score from first on a double by Steve Finley, and was called out by umpire Paul Emmel to end the inning.
“It’s tough to see something like that happen when he’s playing the game hard,” said Chone Figgins, who drove in three runs with a second-inning triple off Scott Erickson. “We run the bases hard and we’re always aggressive.”
Preliminary X-rays confirmed the jam, and Guerrero’s arm was placed in a sling. He was to have a full set of X-rays Saturday in Anaheim before being re-evaluated before Saturday night’s game in Los Angeles.
“We’re concerned, to say the least,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “We need to see exactly what happened and how he feels.”
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Guerrero went 0-for-3 and was replaced by Juan Rivera, who hit a grand slam in the ninth.
The rest of the Angels were clearly worried about Guerrero.
“We don’t want to be without him for any length of time,” Washburn said. “He’d be a huge loss. Hopefully, it’s minimal damage.”
Washburn left the game because of tightness in his left forearm, but he said it was nothing serious.
The Angels downplayed the first of six meetings this season against a team with the same city in its name.
“Just another game against the Dodgers,” Washburn said. “It didn’t feel any different to me because of the stupid L.A.-L.A. thing.”
Figgins scored on a sacrifice fly by Darin Erstad, making it 4-0. Juan Rivera, who replaced Guerrero in right field, hit a grand slam in the ninth.
“It’s a game to us,” Figgins said. “It’s not our job to worry about (names).”
The Dodgers never acknowledged the Angels’ name change. The public address announcer introduced the visitors as the Angels of Anaheim, and the main scoreboard listed them as the Angels. The outfield scoreboard displayed the team’s symbol, a giant ‘A’ with a halo around it, when the Angels were at-bat.
“Just another game,” Scioscia said, echoing Washburn. “It’s much ado about nothing. We’re the Angels and they’re the Dodgers.”
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