Angels hope to go far with John Lackey
ANGELS
The Angels' 12-inning victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday depleted the bullpen.
BOSTON -- With the Angels once again facing elimination in the American League Division Series, Manager Mike Scioscia didn't make any bold predictions of victory today. But he did prepare to send ace right-hander John Lackey to the mound and that may ultimately prove more successful.
"John's going to bring his game," Scioscia said, "and give us a chance to win."
To do that, Lackey, who won 31 games over the past two regular seasons, is going to have to pitch deep into the game to preserve an Angels bullpen that worked 7 1/3 shutout innings in Sunday's 12-inning victory. Setup man Scot Shields may be unavailable tonight after going 2 1/3 innings Sunday and record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez is also iffy after throwing 33 pitches in a rough inning.
The Red Sox also went through their bullpen, using five relievers. Closer Jonathan Papelbon threw 31 pitches in his two innings and Manny Delcarmen, who made 25 pitches in getting five outs, will probably be spared tonight.
The Angels, meanwhile, will stay with the same lineup, but swapping Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera, batting Napoli sixth while the Red Sox benched third baseman Mike Lowell, who is hitless in the series and has become a liability in the field because of the painful torn labrum in his right hip.
Lackey beat Boston twice in the regular season, falling two outs short of a no-hitter at Fenway Park in the second game. However the Red Sox and left-hander Jon Lester got the best of him in Game 1 of the series last week, winning 4-1 despite the fact the only runs Lackey allowed came on a two-run, two-out Jason Bay homer.
"I'm not planning on making too many adjustments," Lackey said. "I felt pretty good last time out there. I'm just out there trying to execute pitches and trying to minimize a mistake or two."
But in addition to getting a good outing from their starter, the Angels will also need to be more productive at the plate. Although they're hitting .293 in the series, they left 36 runners on base in three games.
They may not get many baserunners against Lester, who has won both career postseason starts: Game 4 of last year's World Series and Game 1 of the division series, in which he held the Angels to an unearned run over seven innings. With a victory tonight he'll join Babe Ruth and Luis Tiant as the only pitchers in history to win their first three postseason starts.
"I can't worry about us going back to L.A. or the bullpen situation," said Lester, who was 11-1 at Fenway this year. "I just have to worry about going out and executing my pitches. You can't worry about stuff you can't control."
kevin.baxter@latimes.com
