ANGELS' PITCHING IS HEAVENLY LACKEY BRILLIANT IN BITTER COLD ANGELS 10, DETROIT 4.Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer DETROIT - John Lackey John Derran Lackey (born October 23, 1978, in Abilene, Texas) is a major league baseball starting pitcher from Abilene, Texas. He has played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim his entire career. grew up pitching in the Texas heat, so taking the hill in 44-degree weather might as well have been like pitching on the North Pole North Pole, northern end of the earth's axis, lat. 90°N. It is distinguished from the north magnetic pole. U.S. explorer Robert E. Peary is traditionally credited as being the first to reach (1909) the North Pole. In 1926, Richard E. . The Angels' tall right-hander, though, not only overcame the conditions but also shut down the Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Tigers have played in Comerica Park. , who went into Tuesday night's game at Comerica Park • • [ leading the American League American League (AL) One of the two associations of professional baseball teams in the U.S. and Canada designated as major leagues; the other is the National League (NL). in runs scored. Lackey took a shutout into the seventh inning and rode the backs of the Angels' offense, which banged out 15 hits in a 10-4 victory - the team's fifth consecutive win - in front of a crowd of 18,208. Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero (born February 9, 1976 in Don Gregorio, Nizao, Dominican Republic), and known in his native Dominican Republic as Miquéas (Spanish for Micah), is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. and Troy Glaus Troy Edward Glaus (born August 3, 1976 in Tarzana, California) is a Major League Baseball player who plays third base for the Toronto Blue Jays. Previously, Glaus played with the Anaheim Angels (1998-2004) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2005). each had three hits for the Angels, Glaus coming a home run short of hitting for the cycle In baseball, a player hits for the cycle when he hits a single, a double, a triple and a home run in the same game, though not necessarily in that order. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a natural cycle. . The Angels, however, expect that kind of offense. It was Lackey's performance that had them feeling good about things after the game. During the Angels' winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" , the starters have gotten victories in all five. But Lackey (6 2/3 innings) on Tuesday became the first one to go more than five innings. He left the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh and watched as reliever Scot Shields Scot Shields (b. July 22, 1975, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, with whom he has spent his entire career, serving as their setup man since 2005. yielded a grand slam to Brandon Inge, turning a 5-0 game into 5-4. Lackey was charged with three of the runs. ``The bullpen's going to hook me up more often than not,'' said Lackey, who gave up four hits. ``Especially Shields. He's one of my best friends on the team. I'm not going to talk trash to him. He feels worse about it than me.'' Lackey was so sharp early he didn't allow a Tigers baserunner to reach second base through the first five innings. And when Alex Sanchez stole second in the sixth, Lackey promptly picked him off to end the inning. Lackey seemed to be cruising right along, retiring the first two Tigers batters in the seventh, but he couldn't get the final out of the inning. Carlos Guillen hit one off the end of the bat down the left-field line for a double. Carlos Pena and Eric Munson followed with walks to load the bases, and Lackey was done. Inge connected on a 2-1 pitch from Shields for his second grand slam of the season. He hit his first Friday against Cleveland. The game stayed tight until the top of the eighth, when the Angels knocked around a couple relievers, Esteban Yan and ex-Angel Al Levine, for five runs and a 10-4 lead, and Lackey (1-3) had his first win of the season. ``John's made some adjustments, even from spring training to now,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``He knows what he needs to do. He knows the importance of fastball command and throwing his breaking ball on more counts. ``Production is going to boost any player's confidence. Coming off his last start (three runs, seven hits in 6 2/3 innings against Texas), he knew he still had it in him. Backing it up against a team swinging the bats well like they are is important.'' Lackey said he has used his changeup more in his past two starts, which helps makes his fastball more effective. And the cold weather was no bother at all. ``Once I warmed up, it wasn't that bad,'' Lackey said. ``I made a couple extra pitches in the bullpen and I was fine. I was probably the warmest one out there.'' Gabe Lacques, (626) 962-8811 gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): box Box: GAME RECAP |
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