ARLINGTON -- Earning a victory against the Rangers is not usually a major milestone for the veteran Jered Weaver, who has more wins against Texas than any other franchise after a solid outing in the Angels' 5-4 victory on Wednesday night.
But Weaver's 18th win over the Rangers was also the 150th of his career; he joins Chuck Finley (165 wins) as the only pitchers to reach 150 with the Angels. So it wasn't just a run-of-the-mill victory over the division rivals, even though Weaver chalked up the achievement to mere longevity.
"It just means that I've been here for a little while and I've been a part of some pretty good teams and some winning teams," said Weaver, who is finishing his 11th MLB season.
"He has been incredible for a long time," manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's great to see him reach some milestones. He's part of the heart and soul of what we've done, and he's throwing the ball well."
Only four pitchers have more wins over the Rangers in franchise history than Weaver, including leader Bartolo Colon, who has 20. Wednesday's start was Weaver's 40th against the Rangers, whom he's faced more than any other club.
Weaver tossed six workmanlike innings, striking out six and allowing four earned runs on six hits. He had three 1-2-3 innings, including a strong sixth, when he struck out the first two hitters and got the last out on the first pitch.
His biggest blemish was a hanging curveball to Carlos Beltrán, who hit a line-drive, two-run homer in the fifth inning. With two outs, Weaver thought he was out of the inning with a 1-2 changeup, but Beltran backed up his hips slightly as if the pitch was inside and got the call. Beltran sent the next pitch into the right-field seats.
"My fastball command was good, off-speed stuff was pretty good," Weaver said. "I had to throw a couple extra pitches there in the fifth inning. I felt like I had Beltran struck out, it obviously didn't go my way. It was a little [bit of a] hectic fifth, but everything else felt OK."
With his usual low-velocity arsenal, Weaver befuddled the Rangers most of the night. His fastball topped out in the low 80s, his curveball dipped into the high 60s, and he seemed to hit nearly every number in between at some point.
"He's always been really tough on us, regardless of how hard he's throwing," Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus said. "Now, or four or five years ago. He finds a way to keep our offense off balance. His changeup never gets to home plate, then he sneaks a fastball and it looks like it's 95 mph."
Over his last six starts, Weaver is 4-1 with a 4.15 ERA and 31 strikeouts, a marked contrast from the six starts before that, when he went 0-4 with a 7.04 ERA and nine strikeouts.
"Everything's starting to come together," Weaver said. "I've been able to throw the ball the way I want to, and the location of all my pitches has been where I want it to be. It's been promising."