Major League Baseball

Izturis, Angels spoil Johnson's debut

Published Jun. 26, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Davey Johnson began the fifth chapter of his major league managerial career about 35 miles down the freeway from where he held his previous job. The first thing he wanted to do was turn the page after his Washington Nationals lost in extra innings.

Maicer Izturis hit a bases-loaded single in the 10th and the Los Angeles Angels beat Washington 4-3 on Monday night, spoiling Johnson's debut with the Nationals.

''It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed every minute of it,'' Johnson said. ''It was kind of like flying an airplane. Even if you haven't flown for a while, you can still get it off the ground and land it. That ballgame had a little bit of everything in it. There were some strange things happening. We hit three home runs, all solos. It was a little frustrating.''

Sean Burnett (3-4) gave up a one-out single to Alberto Callaspo and a ground-rule double by Peter Bourjos, his fourth hit of the game. An intentional walk to Bobby Wilson set the stage for Izturis, who grounded a 1-0 pitch through the middle.

''I sent (pitching coach) Steve McCatty out there to give him the option of pitching to the 9-hole guy with the infield in or go against the leadoff guy. I felt like he could get a groundball with him and maybe we could turn two,'' Johnson said.

Scott Downs (5-2) got the victory with a hitless inning.

The Angels were one out from a clean getaway in the ninth when closer Jordan Walden gave up a first-pitch homer to Danny Espinosa, the rookie's third straight blown save and sixth in 23 chances.

Espinosa's drive into the lower seats in the right-field corner was his 15th home run, the most among major league rookies.

Johnson, who began his new job four days after Jim Riggleman's abrupt resignation, is managing his fifth big league club at age 68 after stints with the Mets (1984-90), Reds (1993-95), Orioles (1996-97) and Dodgers (1999-2000). He took over a 40-38 team that entered Monday 8 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East and had won 13 of 15 overall, including two of three at the Chicago White Sox under interim skipper John McLaren.

''Obviously, Davey's a great baseball guy and has been a winner as a manager and a player. So it's nice to have someone like that here,'' third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. ''But this team is a close-knit group, so it doesn't matter who's our manager. We're going to go out and play hard and try to win every night.''

Los Angeles snapped a 2-all tie in the sixth when Wilson grounded a two-out single through the left side to drive in Callaspo and chase starter John Lannan.

''I probably went a little further than I should have with Lannan, but I wanted to give him the opportunity to get a win,'' Johnson said. ''We were a little short in the 'pen and it cost us a little bit. We didn't have (Drew) Storen and we didn't have (Tyler) Clippard, so I was two short.''

Lannan allowed three runs and 11 hits after going 3-0 with a 1.18 ERA over his previous six starts.

''It seemed like I always had runners on, but the defense kept picking me up and I was able to make pitches when I needed to. But it was a battle tonight,'' Lannan said. ''I caught too much of the plate with my fastball when I needed to throw a strike, and they found holes.''

Ervin Santana went eight innings, allowing only leadoff homers by Michael Morse and Zimmerman.

The Angels tied it in the fourth with two-out RBI singles by Callaspo and Bourjos. Callaspo's hit got him out of a 2-for-34 rut. He finished 3 for 5.

Angels right fielder Torii Hunter didn't start for the fourth straight game because of bruised ribs, but came in for defense in the eighth inning. He ended up batting in the 10th, swung late at a pitch from Burnett and hit a vicious shot into the corner of the Washington dugout that almost took out Johnson, who had a relieved grin on his face seconds later.

''It was close,'' Hunter said. ''He threw me a two-seamer away and I just tried to fight it off because I didn't know if it was going to be a ball or a strike. Then when I hit it over there, I saw all of them laughing. Davey was kind of peeking over the rail, and he laughed and smiled at me. It was pretty funny, but it wouldn't have been funny if I hit somebody. I would have been pretty upset.''

NOTES: Johnson lost his first game with the Mets and won his first game with the Orioles and Dodgers. ... Angels manager Mike Scioscia was a catcher with the Dodgers when he helped them upset Johnson's Mets in the 1988 NL championship series with a clutch home run off Dwight Gooden. ... Nationals RHP Chien-Ming Wang pitched three innings in his first rehab start for Class-A Hagerstown, allowing two runs, four hits and no walks with three strikeouts. He is working his way back from shoulder surgery in July 2009, and July 4 will mark two years since he last pitched in the majors with the Yankees. ... Zimmerman is 11 for 58 with two homers and seven RBIs in 13 games since coming off the disabled list. He missed 58 games because of a left abdominal tear. ... Morse came in averaging a home run every 16.2 at-bats, and an RBI every five at-bats.

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