The Angels took their first from the Jays with a 3-1 win on Tuesday.
The offense scored one in the first to take the lead early on when Macier Izturis got on after a Jays error and scored when Vlad singled him in. Izturis also moved to shortstop in the first to replace Erick Aybar, who seems to have dislocated his pinky after diving for a grounder off the bat of Alex Rios in the first. The injury could land Aybar on the 15-day DL . After being down 1-0, the Jays tied it in the bottom half of the first, but the Angels took the lead again and for good in the third when Torii Hunter scored off a Casey Kotchman double. Gary Matthews Jr., scored the third run in the seventh after tripling and being driven in by a sacfly by Vlad.
John Lackey made one mistake in his seven innings- a leadoff homerun to Brad Wilkerson in the first. Lackey shook that off to keep the Jays scoreless for his remaining seven innings of work, and ended up with six K’s. The win is Lackey’s first of the season after getting the no-decision in his last outing. Scot Shields pitched the eighth to earn the hold after loading the bases and K-Rod earned his eighteenth save, though after a shaky ninth inning, giving up three walks to load the bases with one out. K-Rod induced a popout and got Alex Rios to strike out to end the game and seal the 3-1 victory.
The Angels look to steal two straight from the Jays, with Jon Garland facing Shaun Marcum. Garland is now 4-3 and 5-0 lifetime at Rogers Centre. Marcum also stands at four wins with a 2.50 ERA. With the bad news of Aybar being potentially headed to the DL, Chone Figgins could be activated and ready to play for Wednesday’s game. Figgins would regain his home leadoff spot and his position at third would allow Izturis to fill in for Aybar at short if he does go on the DL.
