Lackey Is Grounded by Twins

Angel pitcher John Lackey sat, head buried like an ostrich in his locker stall, following Monday night’s game.

There were self-inflicted questions to mull after the Minnesota Twins’ 7-5 victory over the Angels in front of a sellout of 44,008 in Angel Stadium. The answers seemed as innocuous to Lackey as the Twins’ lineup.

“It’s frustrating because I felt my stuff was good enough to win,” said Lackey, who lasted only 5 2/3 innings. “Tonight, I got beat on two ground balls with two outs, one that didn’t get out of the infield, the other was hit in the right hole. I made good pitches on both.”

In other words, this is how the other half -- the teams the Angels have left with that empty feeling -- have lived this season.

Carlos Silva worked into the seventh inning, leaving with a 5-4 lead. The Twins had three two-out hits that produced four runs, and didn’t let up, tacking on runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

All that was left was for closer Joe Nathan to finish things, which he did, leaving Vladimir Guerrero -- the potential winning run -- in the on-deck circle.

“You really can draw parallels between these teams,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Neither of us is going to win a lot of games with a lot of home runs. They run the bases aggressively. If you get behind, their bullpen is going to shut you down.”

The Angels got this look in the mirror fresh from three days in Kansas City, which was anything but a lost weekend for them. They gave up one run in sweeping three games from the Royals, who have the worst record in baseball.

The Twins, however, are the flip side of the American League Central. They may trail the Chicago White Sox by 8 1/2 games, but they are far from fodder. In fact, the Angels got a good, hard look at the headaches they give to other teams.

“They are are fun to play against because they are just like us,” Angel catcher Bengie Molina said. “That’s the challenge.”

Lackey (6-3) looked as if he was up to the task Monday. He was even staked to a quick lead.

Silva (7-3) had a 3-0 record and a 2.22 earned-run average against the Angels in his career. Those numbers seemed obsolete 11 pitches into the game.

Chone Figgins fouled off three 3-and-2 pitches before lining a double into the right-field corner. Darin Erstad then hit an 0-and-1 pitch into the right-field seats for a 2-0 lead.

But Lackey, making his 100th major league start, won’t be pressing any clippings in a scrapbook from it. It was an outing in which he looked dominant one moment and vulnerable the next.

Torii Hunter doubled to lead off the second inning. Lackey then struck out the next three batters. But Lackey was stung twice by Juan Castro, the No. 9 batter.

“John had chances to close out innings, he just couldn’t make the pitch,” Scioscia said.

Lackey nearly wiggled out of the fourth inning cheaply enough after giving up a run-scoring double to Jacque Jones.

With two out and Jones on third base, Justin Morneau hit a harmless-looking ground ball up the middle that Adam Kennedy fielded. But the ball was hit just slow enough to allow Morneau to beat the throw, driving in Jones.

Castro then doubled off the top of the left-field fence to drive in Morneau, giving the Twins a 3-2 lead.

In the sixth inning, Castro rolled a single into right field to drive in Jones and Lew Ford and end a 3-3 tie. The Twins never gave up that lead.

“I think you have to give the other team credit,” Molina said. “John just needed to get a couple outs, and they did a good job getting the hits.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Happy Fourth?

Where Angels stand after games of July 4 compared with last season, and where they finished:

AL WEST: JULY 4, 2005

*--* TEAM W-L GB ANGELS 50-32 -- Texas 43-38 6 1/2 Oakland 40-41 9 1/2

*--*

AL WEST: JULY 4, 2004

*--* Oakland 46-34 -- Texas 45-34 1/2 ANGELS 42-39 4 1/2

*--*

AL WEST: 2004 FINAL

*--* ANGELS 92-70 -- Oakland 91-71 1 Texas 89-73 3

*--*