He has been as dependable as a Swiss watch, delivering one quality start after another, but Tuesday night Dan Haren was more like a Timex — he took a licking and kept on ticking.

The Angels’ right-hander went seven innings, equaling the average length of his first 10 starts, but unlike those previous games, Haren did not give his team a chance to win.

The Oakland Athletics scored five runs in the first four innings, three of them on a pair of David DeJesus home runs, and cruised to a 6-1 victory at Angel Stadium.

Guillermo Moscoso, in his first big league start after being called up from triple A, gave up three hits in six shutout innings, and Josh Willingham added a two-run double in the third, as the A’s ended a six-game losing streak.

Haren (4-3) is winless in his last seven starts, a lack of run support the culprit in most of those games but not Tuesday night.

“Dan’s not going to be on every pitch, every night,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “They hit some balls with guys in scoring position and got a good lead. Dan settled down and put some zeroes up, but we couldn’t get anything going offensively.”

Haren ranked fourth in the American League in earned-run average (1.84) and fifth in strikeouts (66) entering the game, and he gave up only three homers in his first 10 starts.

The A’s hit .200 with one home run and 10 runs during their losing streak, and they entered with 25 homers, the fewest in baseball.

But they showed plenty of muscle Tuesday, DeJesus ripping a solo homer to right on a full-count fastball in the second and a two-run shot to center on a first-pitch fastball in the fourth.

DeJesus entered with two home runs on the season — both in a May 4 game against Cleveland — and a .111 average (two for 18) and no homers against Haren.

“The first homer, it was a 3-2 count with no one on, and I wanted to challenge him,” Haren said. “The next one he ambushed me on the first pitch.

“Oakland is a tricky team. Sometimes they’re aggressive, sometimes they’re not. Obviously, DeJesus was seeing the ball pretty good. … I had his number for a long time, but he got the best of me today.”

Despite a 2.24 ERA on the season, Haren has not won since April 17. Jered Weaver has not won since April 25.

“The bottom line is, the least thing a pitcher can control is a win or a loss,” Scioscia said. “You can control your innings by being pitch-efficient and making pitches, you can minimize damage and give length, and if you’re not getting support in the field and at the plate, you’re not going to control that win or a loss.”

The win should ease some tension in an A’s clubhouse that was filled with friction after Monday night’s 4-1 loss to the Angels.

After Oakland reliever Brian Fuentes suffered his fourth loss in as many appearances, the left-hander criticized Manager Bob Geren’s “unorthodox managing,” the former Angels closer adding that he has “zero” communication with Geren.

Fuentes, who is 1-7 with a 5.06 ERA, apologized Tuesday, not for what he said but for airing his beefs to reporters.

Geren and Fuentes then cleared the air in a pregame conversation in which the manager informed Fuentes that Grant Balfour would be his closer for now.

“I gave him my thoughts, he gave me his thoughts,” Geren said. “Everything’s good. We shook hands. Everything’s fine.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

Read More: Tyson Ross (P – OAK), Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels

We’re still not yet through even one fifth of the 2011 Major League Baseball season, so needless to say, there’s plenty of time for teams to play up or down to their expected levels. But suffice it to say, the expectations surrounding the Cleveland Indians’ season have dramatically changed following their impressive 20-8 start to the new year.

Thanks to a three-run ninth inning on Tuesday night, Cleveland extended its winning streak to seven games with a 4-1 win over the Oakland Athletics. After defeating the divisional rival Texas Rangers in dramatic fashion on Monday, the A’s offense looked out of sorts and dormant in the opener of a three-game set with the American League’s leading team. Oakland mustered just one run on five hits in the 4-1 defeat, as Indians starter Fausto Carmona pitched eight masterful innings for his third win of the year.

As punchless as the A’s offense was, Oakland still had a chance to win an ugly game on Tuesday thanks to the non-spectacular but effective outing by Tyson Ross. Filling in for the injured Dallas Braden, Ross again picked up a no-decision despite pitching well enough to win. In his last start, Ross threw seven shutout innings against the Angels but was not credited with a win. On Tuesday, he wasn’t quite as effective, allowing one run on eight hits over six innings. He walked none and struck out three.

With the score knotted at 1-1 in the ninth, Orlando Cabrera broke the tie with an RBI single against Brian Fuentes in his one at-bat of the evening. Fuentes (1-3) gave up four hits and three earned runs before being yanked in favor of David Purcey who recorded the final two outs of the decisive frame. It was the fourth straight win for the Tribe in their final at-bat. Impressive.

Not so impressive — at least in the minds of most A’s fans — was the decision to have Fuentes pitch for the third straight night. Manager Bob Geren opted to give the ball to Fuentes yet again on Tuesday despite the fact that Funetes had pitched in three of the four games against Texas — two of which were pressure-packed situations that had to have taken something out of Fuentes.

For more A’s analysis and fan discussion, be sure to check out Athletics Nation.

Like some kind of magnet, the first three weeks of the Oakland Athletics 2011 season has kept them bouncing around the .500 mark. The A’s came into their two game series with the Boston Red Sox at 8-8 and left the series at 9-9. Oakland remains a wildly inconsistent team on offense and it is keeping them from putting it all together. Their starting pitching is as good as anybody in the league, but they have such a small margin for error that an average night often will not be enough to get a win.

Gio Gonzalez struggled Wednesday afternoon, but the A’s were unable to take advantage of a variety of opportunities to help him out. Brett Anderson was dominant on Tuesday night, but until an eighth inning offensive burst it was pins and needles for the A’s. If they don’t get some consistent offense it seems like they’ll always be a step behind in the division.

A’s Pitcher of the Series: Brett Anderson – There’s no doubt that Anderson gets this award after his gem Tuesday night. Although he couldn’t finish off the complete game shutout, Anderson was absolutely dominant through seven innings. Even though he got into some trouble in the eighth inning, he was able to gut it out and get away unscathed. While the A’s are getting quality starting pitching across the board, Anderson has been consistently the best thus far.

A’s Hitter of the Series: Hideki Matsui – The A’s offense had a lot of bad moments in this series, but when things were going well, Hideki Matsui was able to get involved. He was 1 for 4 with two RBIs on Tuesday and 2 for 4 with a run scored on Wednesday. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but the A’s offense struggled enough that it was better than nothing. The A’s had several chances to make some noise on Wednesday, but they just could not get that timely hit. However, if Godzilla is starting to heat up it could be an excellent sign moving forward.

Upcoming Schedule: The A’s head on the road for a fairly important stretch of games, facing the Mariners four times followed by the Angels three times. Division races aren’t decided in April, but a strong showing on this road trip would go a long way towards giving the A’s the confidence to stick around the AL West playoff race in September. This first Mariners series will feature Tyson Ross making his first start of the season in place of Dallas Braden.

Series Results
Thursday: A’s 5 – Red Sox 0
WP: Brett Anderson (1-0)
LP: John Lackey (1-2)

Friday: Red Sox 5 – A’s 3
WP: Clay Buchholz (1-2)
LP: Gio Gonzalez (2-1)
Sv: Jonathan Papelbon (3)

Like some kind of magnet, the first three weeks of the Oakland Athletics 2011 season has kept them bouncing around the .500 mark. The A’s came into their two game series with the Boston Red Sox at 8-8 and left the series at 9-9. Oakland remains a wildly inconsistent team on offense and it is keeping them from putting it all together. Their starting pitching is as good as anybody in the league, but they have such a small margin for error that an average night often will not be enough to get a win.

Gio Gonzalez struggled Wednesday afternoon, but the A’s were unable to take advantage of a variety of opportunities to help him out. Brett Anderson was dominant on Tuesday night, but until an eighth inning offensive burst it was pins and needles for the A’s. If they don’t get some consistent offense it seems like they’ll always be a step behind in the division.

A’s Pitcher of the Series: Brett Anderson – There’s no doubt that Anderson gets this award after his gem Tuesday night. Although he couldn’t finish off the complete game shutout, Anderson was absolutely dominant through seven innings. Even though he got into some trouble in the eighth inning, he was able to gut it out and get away unscathed. While the A’s are getting quality starting pitching across the board, Anderson has been consistently the best thus far.

A’s Hitter of the Series: Hideki Matsui – The A’s offense had a lot of bad moments in this series, but when things were going well, Hideki Matsui was able to get involved. He was 1 for 4 with two RBIs on Tuesday and 2 for 4 with a run scored on Wednesday. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but the A’s offense struggled enough that it was better than nothing. The A’s had several chances to make some noise on Wednesday, but they just could not get that timely hit. However, if Godzilla is starting to heat up it could be an excellent sign moving forward.

Upcoming Schedule: The A’s head on the road for a fairly important stretch of games, facing the Mariners four times followed by the Angels three times. Division races aren’t decided in April, but a strong showing on this road trip would go a long way towards giving the A’s the confidence to stick around the AL West playoff race in September. This first Mariners series will feature Tyson Ross making his first start of the season in place of Dallas Braden.

Series Results
Thursday: A’s 5 – Red Sox 0
WP: Brett Anderson (1-0)
LP: John Lackey (1-2)

Friday: Red Sox 5 – A’s 3
WP: Clay Buchholz (1-2)
LP: Gio Gonzalez (2-1)
Sv: Jonathan Papelbon (3)

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics have landed their new designated hitter.

The A’s and free agent slugger Hideki Matsui finalized a $4.25 million, one-year contract Tuesday after he passed a physical. The sides had agreed to terms during the weekend. Matsui can earn an additional $100,000 in bonuses.

Oakland formally introduced Matsui on Tuesday afternoon in a news conference attended by more than 100 media members — mostly Japanese — and featuring 17 television cameras. Matsui provides a reliable bat in the middle of the order that general manager Billy Beane was seeking this offseason.

The 36-year-old Matsui batted .274 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs last season with the Los Angeles Angels, the Athletics’ AL West rival. He spent his first seven major league seasons with the New York Yankees and was MVP of the 2009 World Series.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics have landed their new designated hitter.

The A’s and free agent slugger Hideki Matsui finalized a one-year contract Tuesday after he passed a physical. The sides had agreed to terms during the weekend.

Oakland planned an afternoon news conference to formally introduce Matsui, who provides a reliable bat in the middle of the order that general manager Billy Beane was seeking this offseason.

The 36-year-old Matsui batted .274 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs last season with the Los Angeles Angels, the Athletics’ AL West rival. He spent his first seven major league seasons with the New York Yankees and was MVP of the 2009 World Series.