Mickey Hatcher tries to re-energize hitters

"When we get home, we're going to have a meeting and figure out how many of these guys are trying to get me fired," Hatcher said after the Angels' 1-0 victory over the Dodgers on Sunday.

Yes, Hatcher was joking. But he has been criticized so heavily over the last four years, a period marked by long stretches of offensive futility, that you half-wondered if he was serious.

The Angels are in another rut, scoring only one run and hitting .161 (15 for 93) in three games against the Dodgers. Because of their superb pitching, the Angels won for a major league-high 16th time while scoring three runs or less.

The Angels won five of six at Philadelphia and Washington, but seemed to lack life against the Dodgers. In their last six games, the Angels have 53 strikeouts and nine walks.

"The last few days in that locker room, I don't know how to describe it, but it's not the same team," Hatcher said before Sunday's game. "The energy level is real low. Sometimes that happens when you travel coast to coast. I don't know why."

A common theme: the Angels are swinging at too many pitches outside the strike zone.

"It's something I've been beat up my whole life for," Hatcher said. "I want them to be aggressive on the fastball in the zone, but I tell them pitchers aren't going to throw you breaking balls for strikes. They're swinging at bad pitches."

Crunch time

John Lackey didn't sweat out the first 8 2/3 innings Sunday, when the Angels ace blanked the Dodgers on three hits and struck out nine, but that last one-third of an inning was a real nail-biter.

After walking Russell Martin with his 120th pitch, Lackey was pulled in favor of closer Francisco Rodriguez, who walked Jeff Kent to load the bases.

But Rodriguez got James Loney to ground to second for his major league-high 32nd save, two shy of John Smoltz's record of 34 saves before the All-Star break.

"I'm way more nervous watching than pitching -- it's not even close," Lackey said. "But Frankie is getting it done. How many saves does he have, 32? That's crazy. He's got a plane flight to New York [for the July 15 All-Star game], that's for sure."