"This wasn't exactly what Dan Haren had in mind when the Angels acquired him for an expected playoff push.

"Playing these games are going to be real meaningful," Haren told reporters in Arizona the day he was traded in late July.

Six weeks later, the Angels' 3-2 loss against Cleveland on Monday at Angel Stadium had a spring training feel, with the crowd doing the wave in the top of the eighth inning after the Indians had moved the potential go-ahead run into scoring position.

Earlier, some of Haren's teammates lost track of the number of outs in an inning, lingering on the field after Haren had struck out the final batter.

Haren has met expectations if the Angels haven't, pitching at least six innings in eight of his nine starts with his new team, including a strong seven-inning outing Monday in which he gave up five hits and two runs.

His only hiccup was a three-walk sixth inning in which he lost his release point and walked in a run.

"I've never done something like that that I can remember," he said.

Haren might also have trouble recalling the last time his teammates scored more than a handful of runs for him. The Angels have scored three runs or fewer in seven of Haren's nine starts, with Torii Hunter's solo home run and Alberto Callaspo's run-scoring single accounting for the only runs against the Indians.

Closer Fernando Rodney (4-2) failed to complete a clean ninth inning after recording two quick outs, giving up a run on Michael Brantley's double and Shin-Soo Choo's single.

"Most of the time I've pitched we haven't won," Haren said. "I don't feel good about it. I've done better throwing the ball overall here than I was in Arizona, but the wins haven't been there and the team wins haven't been there.""