The finale of the Angel-Dodger series ended with another shutout, but this time John Lackey and the Angels shut out the Dodgers to take the win and avoid a series sweep.
The Angels managed to squeeze one run out of their six hits. It came in the second when Juan Rivera singled and came around to score on Mike Napoli’s RBI-single. Rivera and Izturis were both 2 for 4, with Rivera starting in left and Izturis at second in place of Kendrick. Chone Figgins was also back in the lineup after missing the first two games of the series.
John Lackey was one out away from a complete game shutout. He kept the Dodgers scoreless and to just three hits while striking out nine. He retired 14 straight batters at one point and pitched his way to his sixth win. K-Rod got the hot James Loney to ground out with the bases loaded for the final out of the game and to give K-Rod his 32nd save.
The Angels, back to their winning ways after dropping three straight, take the freeway home to open a three-game set with the A’s. The Angels look to gain ground on the second place A’s, who are 4 1/2 games behind them. They send Jon Garland to the mound to go for his eighth win. He will face lefty rookie Greg Smith who is 4-6 this season and is 0-2 in two starts against the Angels.
Also making a start on Monday is Kelvim Escobar for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. Escobar will work on getting his pitch counts higher in his coming minor league starts and is looking to rejoin the Angels staff after the All-Star Break.
