IT MATTERS TO LACKEY RODRIGUEZ TIES FRANCHISE SAVE RECORD WITH 46TH ANGELS 2, OAKLAND 0.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- Throw a dart at the Angels' stat sheet and you are bound to hit a reason why Thursday's series opener against the Oakland Athletics did not mean anything.

Poor fielding, low on-base percentage, mounds of unearned runs, awful slugging percentage, one of the worst run-scoring teams in the American League.

On thing that can't be blamed is pitching. John Lackey set a career high with 11 strikeouts and Francisco Rodriguez closed out a 2-0victory over the A's with his 46th save, tying Bryan Harvey's franchise record.

The Angels had to settle for personal accomplishments as they played out the string in what had been targeted as a key series the moment the schedule was released more than a year ago.

Reggie Willits, Kendry Morales and Erick Aybar were starting. Vladimir Guerrero was removed after one at-bat, although it was good for a single and his 200th hit of the season. Guerrero became the first player to have two 200-hit seasons in an Angels uniform.

A decent amount of fans showed up as the crowd was announced at 41,944, but they weren't required to bring their intensity for this one.

``We were extremely disappointed because we wanted these games to mean something,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``If we could get them head-to-head it could be a difference-maker. It didn't materialize. ...

``Our guys were down (after the A's clinched Tuesday), but I think looking back there were a lot of good things that happened this summer and that's what we'll focus on. We just dug too big a hole and couldn't get to where we needed to be.''

Lackey seemed to pitch like it mattered -- not that he has any problem getting up for games against the A's.

Lackey tied his career high with 10 strikeouts when he fanned D'Angelo Jimenez looking to open the eighth inning. He set his career high two batters later when he got Hiram Bocachica swinging.

As his accomplishment was noted on the scoreboard, the fans gave Lackey a standing ovation.

Ever since Oakland's Jason Kendall charged Lackey in a May 2 game at Anaheim, the right-hander has been dominating against the A's. He has won three consecutive against Oakland, allowing a combined tworuns on nine hits with 26 strikeouts.

Lackey finished his season 13-11 with a 3.56 ERA. He fell one short of his career high for victories set in each of the past two seasons and had the second-best ERA of his career behind his 3.44 mark last season.

[e-mail]

[phone], Ext. 2731

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Angels starter John Lackey set a career-high with 11 strikeouts Thursday.

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Box:

ANGELS vs. OAKLAND

- Doug Padilla