John Lackey had another strong outing to hold the Rays to two runs to give the Angels a 4-2 win.
The Angels were down 1-0 from the first inning until the fifth when Gary Matthews Jr. hit a solo shot to give the Angels their first hit of the game. The Rays took the lead again in the seventh but the Angels added two of their own in the bottom half for the go-ahead run. Maicer Izturis singled to right-center to score Casey Kotchman and Robb Quinlan. Izturis went 2 for 2 for 4 to send his hit streak to 11 games. Vlad then added a solo shot to send his homerun total to double digits and to give the Angels an insurance run.
John Lackey held the Rays to two runs to give himself his third win. Lackey pitched himself out of a bases-loaded jam in the first with giving the Rays just one run. Lackey allowed a single in the second but then kept the bases empty until the sixth. The Rays scored off a sacfly in the seventh to tag Lackey for another run. He left in the eighth after giving up just those two runs on four hits with 7 K’s. Scot Shields finished the eighth before K-Rod closed out the ninth for his 27th save.
The Angels have Thursday off before hosting the Braves for an Interleague Play series.
