Angels Find Old Formula

The Angels went retro Tuesday night, going back two years in the Mike Scioscia archives to pull out an old-school, 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox in front of 26,209 in U.S. Cellular Field.

There was a strong start by John Lackey, an eighth-inning escape act by reliever Francisco Rodriguez, a shut-down ninth by reliever Brendan Donnelly and a clutch defensive play by left fielder Jose Guillen, who cut down a potential run at the plate.

There was a surprise three-run home run, by Jeff DaVanon, and a Scioscia staple, a suicide squeeze by Chone Figgins. There was aggressive base-running, good situational hitting, and a superb ninth-inning at-bat by Adam Kennedy, who fouled off six two-strike pitches before getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, as the Angels tacked on two big insurance runs.

In other words, many of the elements that keyed the Angels’ 2002 World Series run but have been absent at times during a sluggish stretch in which they lost 24 of 37 games were evident Tuesday night, as the Angels pulled within 3 1/2 games of Oakland and Texas in the American League West.

“We worked some counts, got into some good hitting counts, got some good cuts and some big hits that have been missing during this dry spell,” Scioscia said. “We made some productive outs.... That has to be part of the package.”

That package nearly unraveled in the eighth, when Rodriguez replaced Lackey with a 4-2 lead. After retiring the first two batters, he struck out Willie Harris on a nasty slider in the dirt, but the ball skidded past catcher Bengie Molina, and Harris reached on the wild pitch.

Rodriguez walked Timo Perez, and he refused to give into No. 3 hitter Frank Thomas after falling behind on the count, 2-and-1. Two more sliders failed to find the strike zone, and Thomas’ walk loaded the bases.

Carlos Lee then lined Rodriguez’s first pitch into the gap in right-center field, but center fielder Garret Anderson got an excellent jump and flagged it down on the run to end the inning.

“Lee hit that ball hard,” Rodriguez said. “Four more feet toward the gap, and it’s a different game. I blow the save, I blow Lackey’s win, we have a big fight in the dugout, we both go to jail....”

Lackey didn’t exactly handcuff the White Sox the last time he pitched in Chicago, when he gave up eight runs in three innings of an 11-2 loss May 30, the worst start of his career.

Tuesday night, he produced one of his best starts of the season, limiting Chicago to two runs and four hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking one, to out-duel right-hander Freddy Garcia and provide what he hopes will be a model for the rest of the Angel rotation.

Bud Black, the Angel pitching coach, “called all the starters in before the game,” Lackey said. “He said if we’re going to win consistently, a lot of it’s going to be on us. The guys are going to swing the bats. We’ve got to be more consistent as a staff down the stretch.”

Lackey gave up a run in the second inning on Joe Crede’s single and another in the fifth on Paul Konerko’s home run, but only once did the Angels seem concerned about the right-hander, when he walked Harris on four pitches to open the sixth and threw two balls to Perez.

Black visited the mound, and whatever he said worked. Lackey got Perez to fly to right, Thomas to ground out on a check swing and Lee to fly to right.

“Bud was really positive,” Lackey said. “He said, ‘After you get this guy out, be careful with Frank.’ It worked out all right.”

Garcia, acquired in a June 27 trade with Seattle, entered with a 10-2 career record and 2.48 earned run average against the Angels, and he had even more incentive to stick it to his old AL West nemesis after signing a three-year, $27-million contract extension with the White Sox earlier Tuesday.

After a 2-hour 7-minute rain delay, Garcia struck out the first four batters he faced and gave up one single through 3 2/3 innings before Guillen’s two-out single in the fourth.

Darin Erstad followed with a single to advance Guillen to third, and DaVanon hooked a 2-and-2 pitch over the wall in the right-field corner for a three-run home run -- his fourth of the season and first since May 24.

The White Sox had scored in the second when, with Jose Valentin on third and Konerko on second and two out, Crede lined a single to left.

Guillen appeared to have little chance of cutting down Konerko, but he charged hard, fielded the ball cleanly in medium left field and threw a laser on the fly to the plate, where Molina made the catch and tag to give Guillen his seventh outfield assist.

“That’s another RBI for Jose,” Scioscia said. “That early in the game, you never want to give a guy like Garcia a big lead.”

Kennedy led off the fifth with a double to center, wisely stopping after a wide turn past second, and took third on David Eckstein’s sacrifice bunt. Figgins then fended off a high fastball to get his squeeze bunt down, giving the Angels a 4-1 lead.

“That was a great job by Figgins,” Scioscia said. “Freddy elevated a fastball, the toughest pitch to bunt. He not only got it down, he got it in a great area.”