Angels, Lackey Stay on Course With Win

BALTIMORE — If the pennant race extends to the final weekend, the Angels’ tentative rotation shows Jarrod Washburn, Kevin Appier and Ramon Ortiz starting the last three games of the season.

The playoff bids might all be claimed before that last weekend, and if the Angels win they would have the luxury of reserving one of their top three starters for the playoff opener.

Without that luxury, their starting pitcher could be a 23-year-old rookie who was a first baseman four years ago.

The Angels would not mind, and John Lackey would not back down.

Lackey won again Friday, and so did the relentless Angels. They’re two games out of first place in the American League West, after they extended their latest winning streak to eight games with a 6-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

The Angels also held their wild-card competitors at bay while crossing another day off the schedule. With 22 games left, they lead the Seattle Mariners by four games and the Boston Red Sox by 7 1/2.

Lackey was not the only hero. Garret Anderson and Adam Kennedy each homered, and Troy Percival struck out the side in the ninth inning for his 34th save. David Eckstein, the Angels’ leadoff hitter, singled twice and walked twice; he has reached base in 10 of his past 12 plate appearances. And, for the first time since June 15, designated hitter Brad Fullmer drove in three runs.

Fullmer, a .300 hitter in his career with runners in scoring position, is hitting .240 in that situation this year.

“I’ve been terrible with men in scoring position,” he said. “We’ve got some big games coming up, and hopefully I can get some big hits.”

Lackey bulled his way through six innings, yet again displaying composure that belies his age.

He stumbled in the first inning. The first two batters singled, another doubled, he threw a wild pitch and the Orioles led, 2-0, five batters into the inning.

But he righted himself, retiring the next 12 batters. He gave up one hit after the first inning, and he handed a 4-3 lead to the bullpen after six.

Lackey (8-3) won for the sixth time in seven starts. If he wins two of his four remaining starts, he will join Washburn, Appier and Ortiz with at least 10 wins. No Angel team has had four 10-game winners since 1991, when Jim Abbott, Chuck Finley, Mark Langston and Kirk McCaskill each posted double-digit win totals.

Not bad for a kid who spotted the rest of the starters half a season, while he racked up victories in the minor leagues. On the last day of June, the Angels put him in the rotation for good, and he has been very good.

By combining solid stuff with exceptional control and exceptional poise, he emerged as a more polished pitcher than any veteran for which the Angels could have traded. His earned-run average of 3.32 is the best in the rotation. He has walked no more than two in seven consecutive starts.

“He’s ready for the challenge of being a major component of a team in a pennant race,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Friday’s game drew 24,045. Lackey used to play before crowds of similar size as a high school quarterback in football-crazed West Texas. If there’s a good reason why he should feel more pressure in the majors, he hasn’t figured it out.

“I’ve always been able to perform when the lights came on,” he said.

He is carefree. He also is the son of a coach, and he doesn’t need to be told what to do twice, or even once. He put himself on a conditioning program last winter, expecting to be called up in September and knowing that, after a long minor league season, he might have merely that month to impress the Angels.

The veterans respect him, so they tease him. Scott Schoeneweis, whose inconsistency as a starter prompted the Angels to replace him with Lackey, smiled as he put the kid in his place.

Said Schoeneweis: “You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me.”