DODGERS ARE ACED OUT ANGELS' LACKEY OUTDUELS BROWN ANGELS 3, DODGERS 0.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - John Lackey, according to Angels manager Mike Scioscia, pitched possibly the best game of his career Friday night, no faint praise given Lackey has a Game 7 World Series victory on his brief but growing professional resume.

Lackey had to be that good to beat Dodgers ace Kevin Brown. He was, and the Angels scored a 3-0 victory Friday night in front of a bipartisan sellout crowd of 43,700 at Edison Field.

It was a mismatch on paper. Brown came in 10-2 with a National League-best 2.22 ERA. Lackey dragged a 5.92 ERA, a 4-7 record and a maddening propensity to lose focus and give up hits at precisely the most inopportune time.

But Lackey, as he's been known to do, rose to the occasion, besting Brown DS28.Dand pushing the Dodgers two games behind San Francisco in the NL West.

Lackey pitched shutout ball for 7 1/3 innings, escaping a jam in which a runner reached third with nobody out in the seventh inning before Brendan Donnelly and Troy Percival finished.

``You had two horses on the mound, matching each other pitch for pitch,'' Scioscia said. ``To beat a pitcher like Brown, he's been incredible. That may have been the best game I've seen John pitch. All the things you look for a pitcher to do, he did tonight.''

He had to. Brown was as good if not better but left with his third loss, two coming at the hands of the Angels.

For six innings, the scoreboard read all zeroes, and Brown looked far more dominant than he did Sunday, when the Angels touched him for 10 hits in five innings. This time, they got eight hits over seven but made the most of them.

Troy Glaus led off the seventh inning with a single, but after a sacrifice and a groundout, Glaus was at second with two outs.

Up came No. 9 hitter David Eckstein, who smoked a pitch into the gap in left field for an RBI triple. Jeff DaVanon followed with an RBI single, his third hit of the night in his first game as the Angels' part-time right fielder after they lost Brad Fullmer for the season with a ruptured knee tendon.

Eckstein, whose average had sunk to .228, will be back in the leadoff spot today after getting five hits in three games to reach the .245 mark. His RBI single came at Brown's expense.

``Bad pitch,'' Brown said. ``That's the difference between winning and losing. When things are going right, you make a bad pitch and get away with it. They foul it off or hit it at somebody.''

For most of this season, Lackey didn't have such luck. On Friday, it was mostly guts that got him through the seventh inning.

Jolbert Cabrera led off with a double and reached third base on a wild pitch. But Lackey got a fastball in on Shawn Green, who grounded weakly to first base. Paul Lo Duca was intentionally walked and the Angels' infield returned to double-play depth.

Daryle Ward complied, bouncing to second baseman Adam Kennedy, who started the inning-ending double play as Lackey left the mound with a fist pump far more exuberant than any display this season.

Earlier in the year, he might have folded and given up a key hit in that situation, like the three-run homer Adrian Beltre smacked off him last Saturday in a 4-0 loss at Dodger Stadium. This time, his concentration did not wane.

``Tonight I really recognized critical situations in the game,'' said Lackey, who earned his first major-league victory 363 days ago against the Dodgers. ``In past starts, I'd make mistakes in critical situations. Tonight, I was so focused in because it was so close.''

Dodgers manager Jim Tracy was aghast at his team's inability to score in the seventh.

``I guess the biggest disappointment is the way we got beat,'' he said. ``I really feel we were in a great situation with a man at third and nobody out. I firmly believe if we do something offensively there in that half of the inning, we're going to win the game.''

Instead, Lackey pitched into the eighth and got an assist from Donnelly, who lured a line-drive double play out of former Angel Larry Barnes to end the inning.

Percival finished with a perfect ninth, and Lackey had his victory.

``He was going up against the best in the game,'' Donnelly said. ``The timing couldn't have been better.''

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Dodgers' Dave Roberts argues with the second-base umpire after getting called out on a steal attempt in the first inning.

(2) Dodgers starter Kevin Brown, right, talks with pitching coach Jim Colborn (48) after giving up two runs in the seventh inning.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

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