Jered Weaver held the Rays to one run through eight while the offense put up six runs to beat the Rays 6-1 and even up the series.
The offense took charge in the first, scoring four runs, including a homerun by Garret Anderson. Maicer Izturis got on to extend his hit streak to 10 games, and Anderson followed up with a one-out, two-run shot. Vlad and Torii Hunter followed with back-to-back singles before Howie Kendrick hit an RBI-double to score Vlad and Jeff Mathis drove in Hunter to make it 4-0. Vlad made it 6-0 in the fifth when he drove a two-run shot with Izturis on base. Vlad is now 10 for 21 in the month of June, after batting a disappointing .219 in May. All 10 Angel hits and six runs were off Rays starter James Shields, who took his fifth loss.
The other side of the decision was Weaver, who now evens his record at 6-6. Weaver pitched seven scoreless innings before giving up a run in the eighth off Gabe Gross’ solo shot. Weaver gave up just four hits and two walks on the night, and had 70 of his 110 pitches for strikes with 5 strikeouts.
The Angels will go for the series win in today’s day game finale. John Lackey will face fellow Texan Scott Kazmir. Both started the season on the DL and have ERA’s under 2. Lackey will go for his third win, he is 8-1 in ten starts against the Rays. Kazmir is 6-1 and 2-1 in three starts against the Angels.
