John Lackey pitched a complete game with a shutout through eight innings as the Angels put up five runs to beat the A’s in the second game of the set.
The Angels got the job done, even without the usual bats of Garret Anderson and Vlad in the lineup. The Angels put up a four-run third to take the lead, triggered by an RBI-single by Teixeira. Torii Hunter then drove in a run with a double and Teixeira scored on Juan Rivera’s sacfly. Matthews Jr. then chipped in by driving in Hunter. They added another run in the fourth when Mike Napoli doubled and scored on Howie Kendrick’s single.
Lackey held the A’s to seven hits in his complete game victory, while holding his shutout until the ninth inning when he gave up a solo homerun with one out. Lackey threw under 100 pitches in the win, and is now 10-0 in his last 10 starts against AL West opponents.
Scioscia would like to use Lackey again, considering his unbeaten streak against the AL West. But tonight’s rubber match will be a matchup of Joe Saunders and lefty Gio Gonzalez. Saunders is looking for his 15th win, and is 2-0 this season against the A’s. Gonzalez is 1-2 with a total of 19 1/3 career innings under his belt.
