Angels Don’t Let Tigers Up

The Detroit Tigers recently learned they had been awarded the 2005 All-Star game.

Maybe they’ll have an All-Star-caliber player by then.

As infuriating as the 2003 season has been for the Angels, it has been exponentially more vexing for the Tigers, who are on pace to challenge the 1962 New York Mets for the worst record in major league baseball history.

John Lackey made sure the Tigers took another step toward that dubious distinction Friday, pitching eight-plus superb innings to lead the Angels to a 3-1 victory in front of 43,174 at Edison Field.

Lackey entered the ninth inning with a chance to pitch his second shutout in slightly more than six weeks before Bobby Higginson blasted the right-hander’s second pitch of the inning to right field for a solo homer. Troy Percival retired three of the next four batters to record his 26th save and third in three days for the suddenly surging Angels.

The Angels have won three consecutive games and four of five for the first time since the All-Star break, but those tempted to check the standings in anticipation of a late-season climb might want to reconsider. The Angels (58-64) remain 16 games behind Seattle in the American League West and are in sixth place in the wild-card standings, 12 1/2 games behind Boston.

Those who believe in miracles, take note: The Angels play their next 14 games against opponents from the American League Central, against whom they have gone 15-5 this season.

Lackey, who has been alternately brilliant and maddeningly mediocre this season, was the former Friday, recording his first victory in six starts since July 13. He gave up seven hits and one run.

“Tonight was an indication of him going out there and pitching the way he can,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He had a really good presence.”

Detroit (31-89), which features a lineup devoid of a .300 hitter, didn’t put a runner on second base until Dmitri Young doubled with one out in the seventh.

But Young, the Tigers’ lone All-Star and leading hitter with a .281 average, was left stranded after Lackey struck out Carlos Pena and Craig Monroe to end the inning.

Lackey (8-11) gave up back-to-back singles with two out in the eighth before retiring Warren Morris on a fly ball. Even after giving up Higginson’s ninth-inning homer, Lackey had only thrown 93 pitches. But he didn’t complain when Scioscia summoned Percival.

“I’d trust him with a lead any day,” said Lackey, who struck out seven and walked one. “He’s been through a few more battles than I have.”

The Angels supported Lackey with solid defense and timely hitting. Second baseman Adam Kennedy made a diving stop of a sharp grounder off the bat of Morris and Chone Figgins made several nice running catches in center field.

Figgins, who has hit safely in five of six games since his most recent recall from triple-A Salt Lake, also scored in the first on Scott Spiezio’s sacrifice fly. Spiezio made it 2-0 in the fourth when he hit a leadoff double and eventually scored on Bengie Molina’s fielder’s choice. Molina drove in the Angels’ final run in the eighth when he singled up the middle with two outs.

Lackey has won consecutive starts only once this season, though he pitched well enough to win his last two outings. He gave up no earned runs in his most recent outing before Friday, a 3-1 loss to Cleveland in which his own poor fielding led to three unearned runs. Yet he brightened Friday after considering the plight of the hapless Tigers, who could break the Mets’ record 120 losses.

“One thing I learned a long time ago is that it can always be worse and it could always be better,” Lackey said. “With the stuff I have, I think it will be better eventually.”