ANGELS ARE TIGER TAMERS LACKEY GIVES UP 1 HIT VS. DETROIT.

Byline: BEN VILLA Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - The rain that was supposed to hit Anaheim never materialized, but John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero still supplied Angels fans with plenty of thunder Wednesday afternoon.

Lackey allowed just one hit and struck out eight in eight innings and Guerrero hit his fifth home run of the season as the Angels defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-0 in front of 37,532 at Angel Stadium.

It was the second time in the three-game series Angels pitchers combined to toss a shutout. Monday, Ervin Santana and three relievers blanked the Tigers 3-0 and Wednesday, Scot Shields pitched a scoreless ninth inning to help Lackey nail down his third win of the season.

"It's big for us when our pitchers put up goose eggs, and we need our starters to pitch deep into games," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "And you can't ask for anything more than what John gave us today.

"He battled all game and even though his pitch count was a little high through the first three innings, he managed to have enough to get through the eighth. But once he got his second wind, he did a good job of putting guys away."

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third, in which the Angels broke through against Tigers left-hander Mike Maroth. With one out, Orlando Cabrera singled and went to second on a throwing error by Tigers shortstop Carlos Guillen.

Garret Anderson then singled to left field, scoring Cabrera and snapping Maroth's consecutive scoreless streak at 19 1/3 innings.

Guerrero then crushed a 2-0 pitch deep into the left-field stands to give the Angels a 3-0 lead. The homer was just the third for the Angels in nine home games this season, compared to the 18 they've hit on the road.

Chone Figgins then tacked on another run all by himself in the fifth inning when he led off with a double, stole third base and scored when Detroit catcher Ivan Rodriguez's throw to third got away from Chris Shelton.

Lackey, who allowed only a single by Craig Monroe in the fifth,wasn't dominant - as evident by the five walks he issued - but managed to get out of second- and fifth-inning jams.

In the second, Lackey walked Shelton and Alexis Gomez with two outs but then struck out Monroe to end the threat.

And in the fifth, after Monroe singled and Curtis Granderson walked with two outs, Lackey got Placido Polanco to pop up to Howie Kendrick, who made his major-league debut, at second to end the inning.

After that, Lackey retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh innings, and in the eighth, he got Granderson to ground into a double play to end any hopes of a Tigers rally.

Lackey's pitch count hit 117, and that was the reason Scioscia went to Shields in the ninth inning instead of letting him come out with a chance to pitch a complete game.

"I was locating the fastball real well and I was throwing my off-speed pitches for strikes," Lackey said. "And when they did hit it, it was right at people and the guys did a good job of making plays.

"It wasn't real important to come out for the ninth inning. Today, my pitch count was a little high and Shields took yesterday off so he was well- rested. We won and that's what it's all about."

In the top of the ninth inning, Guerrero made the defensive play of the game. Magglio Ordonez singled with one out, but Guerrero threw behind him at first base and Casey Kotchman applied the tag for the second out of the inning.

The Angels have today off before a three-game weekend series at home against the World Series champion Chicago White Sox, who beat them in five games in last season's American League Championship Series.

ben.villa(at)presstelegram.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) Detroit's Craig Monroe throws his bat after striking out with two men on base against the Angels.

(2) Angels starter John Lackey gave up just one hit in his eight innings Wednesday to get the victory.

Ric Francis/Associated Press