ANGELS NOTEBOOK: LACKEY SOUGHT THE NIGHT SHIFT.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA 

Staff Writer

BOSTON -- John Lackey seemed perturbed, confused and more than a little disappointed Friday. And that was before he was lit up for six first-inning runs in the opening game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox.

Lackey wanted to start the night game of Friday's twin bill and said as much earlier in the week in Toronto. He joked that if he wasn't starting the night game, he have to pull rank on somebody.

Apparently Lackey didn't have enough rank to pull. The staff ace was asked by pitching coach Mike Butcher what game he wanted to start but Lackey never discussed the matter with manager Mike Scioscia. Without further input, Lackey was assigned the day game opposite a Red Sox first-time starter, while Ervin Santana was recalled from the minor leagues to face 15-game winner Josh Beckett.

"You'd think they'd want me to go against a guy like that," Lackey said of Beckett. "It would have been fun."

Instead it became a disaster. Five batters into Game 1, the Red Sox had hit for a collective cycle. David Ortiz homered three batters into Lackey's outing and the Angels never were really heard from after that.

Lackey made no excuses afterward for his poor pitching. But it was obvious he was more than a little ticked off.

"Honestly when we left (on the trip) I expected to be pitching the night game," Lackey said. "But that's not what happened."

Kotchman gets four, then sits: Casey Kotchman stroked an easy four hits, including two doubles, in the opener of the doubleheader only to find himself on the bench to start Game 2. The four hits were a career high as he snapped an 0-for-13 skid.

Scioscia went with Robb Quinlan instead to start the second game at first base even though the Red Sox had a right-hander in Beckett on the mound. Quinlan never had faced Beckett while Kotchman was 1-for-3.

Kotchman could prove valuable down the stretch if he continues to produce.

"We talk about it all the time, we're going to have to be more than one guy; we have to be more than (Vladimir Guerrero)," Scioscia said. "It's great to see Casey have a (game) like this and you hope he can keep it going. We need to pressure teams every inning."

Brown down: As expected, Matt Brown was optioned back to Triple-A Salt Lake in order to get Ervin Santana on the roster to start the second game. Brown had just four official at-bats with two walks since being recalled July 30.

No knucklers needed: The Red Sox apparently don't want the Angels to beat up on Tim Wakefield anymore.

The knuckleballer, who pitched eight shutout innings in his past start, will not pitch Sunday in his normal rotation spot. He was moved to Monday so he can face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays instead.

Instead of getting Wakefield, who is 14-10 with a 4.55 ERA this season and 9-3 over his past 12starts, the Angels will face Julian Tavarez, who is 6-8 with a 5.12 ERA.

Vladimir Guerrero is batting .438 off Wakefield with four home runs. Garret Anderson has five home runs off him and Chone Figgins is batting .333. Against the Devil Rays, Wakefield is 18-2 lifetime.