Angels Take Lumps in Win

The prognosis for Vladimir Guerrero looks good. The Angel right fielder and reigning American League most valuable player left Tuesday night’s game in the fourth inning because of a bruised right knee but felt better by the end of the Angels’ 13-8 victory over Texas and predicted he’d play tonight.

The outlook for Angel starter John Lackey is a bit more fuzzy, and there are short-term concerns about an Angel bullpen that was nicked for five more runs Tuesday night, turning a laugher into something of a nail-biter. The bullpen has now thrown 30 1/3 innings in eight games, including 6 2/3 innings by versatile setup man Scot Shields.

An Angel offense that pounded out 14 hits, put the leadoff runner on base in seven of nine innings and applied relentless pressure to the Rangers helped obscure their pitching problems, but another choppy start by Lackey could not be ignored.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander gave up three runs and five hits in five innings, walking four and striking out four, but he needed reliever Brendan Donnelly to bail him out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth to escape with a respectable line.

Lackey retired the side in order twice but gave up a homer to David Dellucci in the second and walked two in the third and sixth innings. In his first start, against the Rangers last Thursday, he had a no-hitter through four innings and collapsed in the fifth, giving up four runs, walking three and throwing 48 pitches.

“At times tonight and in his first start, he looked like he did in the second half of last season,” Manager Mike Scioscia said of Lackey, who went 7-5 with a 4.57 earned-run average after the All-Star break in 2004.

“Then there are times where things creep back into his game. It’s tough to keep pitching when you’re behind in the count, and walks add fuel to the fire. He has to maintain his aggressiveness, his ability to make pitches.”

Donnelly preserved a 9-3 Angel lead when he replaced Lackey and struck out Adrian Gonzalez and Gary Matthews on split-fingered fastballs and got Rod Barajas to pop up.

The Angels tacked on three more runs for a 12-3 lead in the seventh, but Texas scored twice off Donnelly in the bottom of the seventh, raising Donnelly’s ERA to 7.94, and three times off Esteban Yan in the eighth.

Shields replaced Yan with two on in the eighth and a 12-8 lead and struck out Richard Hidalgo to end the inning before striking out three of four in the ninth.

“There’s a little bit of a concern [about the bullpen’s workload] but I’m not overly concerned,” pitching coach Bud Black said. “An off day Thursday and a couple of well-pitched games by our starter, and we’ll be back on track.”

Guerrero, who singled twice Tuesday and is batting .415 (39 for 94) with nine homers and 16 RBIs in 23 games against Texas, should be in the lineup tonight after getting drilled in the right knee by Barajas’ throw while stealing third in the third inning.

“My next at-bat I felt a little throbbing in my leg, and I couldn’t push off like I wanted to,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “I figured, the earlier I got some ice on it, the better. As the game went on, I felt better. It’s a little sore right now, but I don’t expect to miss any time.”

The Angels had more than enough offense without Guerrero. Orlando Cabrera had two hits and three RBIs, Chone Figgins had two doubles and three runs, and Jeff DaVanon had two hits and three runs.

“You don’t expect that many runs in one night,” Scioscia said, “but we certainly needed them.”