Angels Delay an A’s-List Party

It’s strange sometimes, the things that motivate players in baseball. Reaching the playoffs and winning the World Series are the ultimate goals, of course, but when those are essentially out of reach, preventing another team from clinching and staging a wild celebration as you trudge off the field can be a powerful stimulus.

The Angels acknowledged as much Saturday after defeating Oakland, 6-2, in McAfee Coliseum to prevent the Athletics from clinching their first American League West championship since 2003.

“It’s a pride thing,” John Lackey said after limiting the A’s to two runs and four hits in seven innings and tying a career high with 124 pitches. “It was motivation going in. I didn’t want to watch that on my day. If we’re going to go down, we’re going to go down with a fight.”

The combination of one Oakland victory and one Angels loss -- it could happen today, in the series finale -- and the Angels, who are seven games behind the A’s with eight to play, will be down.

The A’s would love to close out the Angels today and gain some revenge -- the Angels clinched their 2004 and 2005 division titles in McAfee Coliseum, soaking the visiting clubhouse in champagne and beer.

“No one wants to see that,” second baseman Adam Kennedy said. “You know they want to get us back because we’ve celebrated here the last two years. It would be nice to not let them get us back.”

Added first baseman Darin Erstad: “Until we see them jumping on each other out there, this thing isn’t over.”

The Angels’ playoff hopes remained on life support because of Lackey’s gutsy performance, which improved the right-hander to 12-11 this season and 8-2 with a 3.12 earned-run average against the A’s, and a clutch hit by Juan Rivera that highlighted a four-run sixth inning.

Oakland had scored twice in the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead, but Maicer Izturis walked against starter Joe Blanton to open the sixth and Orlando Cabrera doubled to left field, advancing Izturis to third base. Vladimir Guerrero hit a first-pitch pop-up to shortstop, and the A’s walked Garret Anderson intentionally to load the bases for Rivera.

A similar move in the 12th inning Friday night paid off for the A’s, who walked Guerrero to put runners on first and third with one out and induced an inning-ending, double-play grounder from Rivera. Oakland won, 5-4, in the 12th.

This time, Rivera lined a double off the left-field wall, driving in three runs for a 4-2 lead to gain a measure of redemption, not only for Friday night but for a Sept. 11 game, when he grounded into a double play in the ninth inning of a 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox, and Sept. 17, when he grounded into a bases-loaded double play to end the seventh inning in an 8-1 loss at Texas.

“What a great bounce-back game for Juan,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He’s had a tough run with some guys on base recently, but he got a big hit for us today.”

Rivera, who has cooled since his torrid July, when he hit .364 with 11 homers and 25 runs batted in, said he blocked out any thoughts of a double play Saturday.

“I tried to hit the ball deep,” he said. “I was looking for a soft pitch, he threw me a soft pitch, and I hit it good. I didn’t want to hit into a double play this time.”

Kennedy capped the sixth-inning rally with a run-scoring double, Guerrero doubled and scored on Howie Kendrick’s sacrifice fly in the eighth, and relievers Brendan Donnelly (scoreless eighth) and Hector Carrasco (scoreless ninth) closed out the victory.

“Give credit to the offense,” Lackey said. “I gave up two in the fifth and they came back with an answer in the sixth. That was huge. That got the momentum going back in our direction.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com