Angels Find Some Sanctuary

Leave it to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, owners of the worst record in baseball, to soothe the disappointment of an East Coast swing in which the Angels lost more games than they won to fall out of first place in the American League wild-card race.

Tampa Bay has lost 16 consecutive series and features a starting lineup with players so obscure they probably can’t get into Tropicana Field without identification.

Carl Crawford? Felix Escalona? Someone call security.

If the Angels are to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 1986, they must feast on major league plankton such as the Devil Rays, especially since four of the Angels’ next five series are against teams with sub-.500 records.

John Lackey and Darin Erstad got the Angels off to a good start Tuesday night during a 7-3 victory over Tampa Bay before 19,869 at Edison Field.

Lackey pitched 6 1/3 high-quality innings and Erstad equaled a career high with five hits to lead the Angels’ 16-hit attack.

If the players’ strike scheduled for Friday is averted, Tuesday’s victory could be only the beginning of a prolonged run for the Angels, who improved to 44-18 against teams with records below .500 and 15-1 against teams with records below .400.

The Angels are 4-0 against Tampa Bay.

More important, the Angels retook the lead in the wild-card race after Seattle lost to Minnesota. The Angels (78-53) lead the Mariners by a half-game but still trail surging Oakland, which notched its 14th consecutive victory with a win over Kansas City, by three games in the AL West.

Lackey (6-3), a rookie who recorded his first major-league complete game during his last start, a 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees, didn’t last as long this time but was impressive.

He gave up seven hits and two runs while striking out two and issuing two walks.

“I felt all night I never got in a prolonged groove, but we got a win and that’s good enough,” said Lackey, who has pitched into the sixth inning or later in 11 of his 12 starts.

Said Angel shortstop David Eckstein: “He’s been outstanding for us. Every outing has been a quality start.”

Lackey faced only one batter over the minimum through five innings before giving up a run in the sixth.

In the seventh, Lackey surrendered singles to three of the first four Devil Rays he faced--including Chris Gomez’s run-scoring single to center that drew Tampa Bay within 3-2--before being relieved by Brendan Donnelly, who avoided further damage.

Scott Spiezio put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh when he smashed a three-run double over the head of Ben Grieve in right field.

The hapless Devil Rays (43-88) scored a run in the eighth to make it 6-3 and then loaded the bases before Angel reliever Ben Weber struck out Gomez.

Weber pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.

Erstad, who had two doubles and three triples, last registered five hits in a game June 9, 1998, against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I didn’t hit the ball particularly hard,” said Erstad, hitting .394 over his last 17 games. “Just sometimes, you find holes.”

Alex Ochoa added to the onslaught, driving in two runs for the Angels with RBI singles in the second and sixth innings.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the first when Eckstein, who had reached on an error and moved to third on Erstad’s double, scored on Garret Anderson’s slow roller.

Tampa Bay threatened to put together a big inning in the sixth but came away with only one run after Lackey struck out Jared Sandberg with two out and runners on second and third. Gomez led off the inning with a single off the top of Adam Kennedy’s glove and took second on a fielder’s choice. After Randy Winn drew a walk on a 3-and-2 count, Crawford singled to center to drive in Gomez. But Aubrey Huff grounded to first and Sandberg struck out looking to end the inning.

“[Lackey] made some super pitches in key spots,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He had to work for it.”