Angels Hold On; Lackey Can’t

Maybe next time John Lackey gets the urge to criticize the Angels offense, he’ll think back to Saturday night’s game, bite his tongue and steer the conversation toward another subject.

After losing what for seven innings was a tight, low-scoring game in Yankee Stadium on Monday, the Angels right-hander, frustrated with a lack of run support, said it would be “nice if we could get out to a lead and hang onto one.”

Lackey was given a four-run cushion Saturday and blew all of it in a five-run fifth, but the Angels bailed out the pitcher this time, roaring back for five more runs and nine more hits in a 9-7 victory over Seattle in Angel Stadium.

Garret Anderson had three hits, including a run-scoring single in the sixth and an RBI double in the seventh, and Maicer Izturis had three hits, including a home run to lead off the seventh, to help the Angels keep pace with Oakland and remain 4 1/2 games back in the American League West.

The Mariners, who officially raised the white flag on the season when they traded ace Jamie Moyer to Philadelphia for a pair of minor league pitchers during Saturday’s game, lost their 10th straight, their longest losing streak since 1981, and increased their major league record with their 19th consecutive loss to a division opponent.

“The offense picked me up huge tonight,” Lackey said. “The guys swung the bats great and came through big for us.”

The only big things associated with Lackey these days are his August earned-run average -- an unsightly 7.36 in four starts (three losses and a no-decision) after he was AL pitcher of the month in July -- and his 2006 ERA against Seattle, which rose to 10.18.

Lackey was rocked for five runs and six hits, four for extra bases, in the fifth, turning a 4-0 lead into a 5-4 deficit. Errors by catcher Mike Napoli and left fielder Juan Rivera added to the ugliness of the inning, but all of the runs were earned, as Richie Sexson and Raul Ibanez each smoked run-scoring doubles to left-center and Ben Broussard capped the rally with a two-run home run to center.

“Seattle is definitely taking some comfortable swings against me, and it makes you wonder,” said Lackey, who has allowed 23 earned runs in 20 1/3 innings against the Mariners this season. “It’s something I’m going to have to look into and address.”

The Angels took Lackey off the hook with two runs in the sixth, which featured Vladimir Guerrero’s double, Anderson’s RBI single and Napoli’s RBI single, which put the Angels ahead, 6-5.

Izturis’ homer in the seventh made it 7-5, and with two out, Rivera doubled, Anderson drove him in with a double and Robb Quinlan added a run-scoring triple for a 9-5 lead.

The Angels needed every last drop of offense, because the Mariners rallied in the ninth. Beltre’s single, Guerrero’s error -- the right fielder dropped Ibanez’s line drive -- and Kenji Johjima’s one-out RBI single off Scot Shields pulled Seattle within 9-6.

Francisco Rodriguez, pitching for the sixth time in nine days, gave up a run-scoring double to Broussard that made it 9-7 and put runners on second and third. But Rodriguez struck out Betancourt and, after falling behind Chris Snelling with three balls, came back with three called strikes to secure his 34th save.

“I didn’t want to give him anything on top of the plate so he could drive in two runs -- that’s why I fell behind,” Rodriguez said. “But when it was 3-0, I went at him with two fastballs down the middle and finished him off with a slider. You don’t want to put the go-ahead run on base with one of the toughest hitters in baseball [Ichiro Suzuki] coming up.”

Hector Carrasco, who relieved Lackey in the fifth, threw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless, three-hit relief to earn the victory, and the Angels won their third straight despite allowing 18 hits and committing four errors.

“You’re not going to win a lot of games with four miscues, combined with 18 hits for the other team,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “But we held on.”