Haren ends career-worst 10-game winless skid in Angels’ 3-1 win over Royals

Haren pitches Angels to 3-1 win over Royals

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Dan Haren ended a career-long 10-game winless skid with his first victory as an Angel and Peter Bourjos drove in the go-ahead run with a suicide squeeze bunt in the fifth inning as Los Angeles held off the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Tuesday night.

The Angels have won four of their last five after going 2-8 in their previous 10 games. Leadoff hitter Bobby Abreu went 2 for 2 with two walks and scored two runs.

Haren (1-2) allowed five hits and one run in seven innings to win in his fourth start with the Angels, whom he joined on July 25 in a trade from Arizona. He struck out three and walked one for his first win since June 12 against St. Louis.

Brian Fuentes pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 23rd save in 27 chances.

Bryan Bullington (0-2) gave up five hits and three runs in six innings in his first start for the Royals this season and his first major league start since Sept. 28, 2008. He struck out four and walked one.

The Royals lost their third straight and sixth in eight games to drop into a last-place tie with Cleveland in the AL Central.

The Angels snapped a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fifth. Howie Kendrick led off with a double to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. He scored when Bourjos laid down a bunt in front of the plate with Kendrick running down the line. Catcher Jason Kendall swiped at the ball and reached back to tag out Kendrick as he came home, but Kendall never got the ball in his glove.

After Bourjos was caught stealing second, Abreu singled with two outs and scored on Erick Aybar’s triple in the right field corner for a 3-1 lead.

Haren got out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh on a fielder’s choice groundout to third by Willie Bloomquist.

The Angels led 1-0 in the first on Hideki Matsui’s sacrifice fly. The Royals tied it in the second on a sacrifice fly by Alex Gordon.

NOTES: Bullington’s five previous appearances this season were all in relief. … The Royals fell to 9-10 in two-run games this season. … Kansas City has scored 16 runs while going 2-6 on its current trip, which comes out to a tad more than two runs a game. … Angels RF Torii Hunter returns from his four-game suspension in the series finale on Wednesday.