Angels pound Devil Rays, 9-1

Tampa Bay Manager Joe Maddon sensed a “different vibe” about his young team, which he said showed “a different mental attitude” in its two-game sweep of the New York Yankees this week, but those sure looked like the same old Devil Rays in Angel Stadium Wednesday night.

Charity started on the road for Tampa Bay, which traveled all night following Tuesday’s win over the Yankees, arrived in Orange County at 3 a.m. Wednesday and looked groggy Wednesday night, committing three errors that led to six unearned runs in the Angels’ 9-1 victory.

John Lackey (3-2) corralled his emotions and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning, when the game was still close, and Gary Matthews Jr., Garret Anderson and Shea Hillenbrand each drove in two runs for the Angels, who have won five of six games.

“They cracked the door open a little bit,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said, “and we took advantage of it.”

That door turned into a revolving one after the game, when the Angels called up top prospect Brandon Wood, a third baseman, from triple-A Salt Lake and optioned first baseman Kendry Morales to Salt Lake.

With the Angels in a 17-game stretch without a day off, shortstop Orlando Cabrera having started all 21 games and third baseman Maicer Izturis 20 of 21 games, Scioscia thought he needed a little more infield coverage.

“A couple of guys have been playing a lot and maybe need a day off,” Scioscia said. “Brandon gives us the flexibility to have Izturis play more second base or utility.”

Wood, a first-round pick in 2003, is batting .278 with three home runs and 15 runs batted in for Salt Lake after two power-packed seasons in which he had 43 homers and 115 RBIs in 130 games for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2005 and 25 homers and 83 RBIs in 118 games for double-A Arkansas in 2006.

To make room for Wood on the 40-man roster, the Angels transferred Juan Rivera (broken leg) to the 60-day disabled list. Wood, a converted shortstop, will probably return to Salt Lake when third baseman Chone Figgins is activated Monday.

“It’s probably a short-term thing,” Scioscia said, “but you never know.”

The Angels used to have doubts about Lackey, too -- as recently as 2005, they questioned his ability to handle adversity. A bloop hit or a bad call could set Lackey off and lead to a mound meltdown.

But Lackey has matured into an ace the last two years, and he showed why again Wednesday. With the Angels leading, 3-1, in the sixth, two on and one out, Lackey thought he had Elijan Dukes struck out with a 2-and-2 pitch near the knees.

Umpire Chris Guccione called it a ball, Lackey cursed and walked Dukes to load the bases. But Lackey got Dioner Navarro to pop to short and struck out B.J. Upton with a full-count fastball, punctuating the out by slapping his right hand into his mitt as Upton slammed his bat and helmet into the ground.

“I thought it was a pretty good pitch with two strikes,” Lackey said of the Dukes at-bat. “[Guccione] thought it was down, so we move on and try to make some pitches.”

Would the call have thrown Lackey off a few years ago?

“I still get a little fired up,” Lackey said. “I guess I can get past it a little quicker.”

After committing two errors in the fifth, which helped the Angels score three unearned runs, another Devil Rays’ flub -- shortstop Brendan Harris’ dropped pop-up -- led to three unearned runs in a six-run seventh, which featured Erick Aybar’s RBI double, Anderson’s two-run double and Hillenbrand’s two-run single.

“This,” Maddon said, “was a total breakdown on defense.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com