Angels' John Lackey is victim of long ball

The Angels ace is 11-3 with a 3.25 earned-run average, striking out 113 and walking 34 in 149 1/3 innings, but he has given up a team-high 23 home runs, more than he gave up in any of the previous four seasons.

Seventeen of those home runs have come in Lackey's last 12 games after he gave up only six in his first nine games.

And Lackey sat out the first six weeks of the season because of an elbow injury and has thrown the fewest innings of any Angels starter.

"His command has been good, he's in the zone a lot, and if the result of him staying aggressive in the zone is having virtually every number be terrific with the exception of giving up a few more home runs, that's a good trade-off," Manager Mike Scioscia said.

"His innings pitched are way up there, he's going deep into games, and he's winning, which is huge."

It's not as if Lackey is pitching more to contact. He is averaging 6.8 strikeouts per nine innings, only a shade below his career average of 7.2 before the season.

"The bottom line is his numbers are terrific," Scioscia said. "Giving up a few more home runs could be a residual effect from pounding the strike zone the way he does. Overall, everything he's done has been a positive."

Playing with fire

Justin Speier's home runs are also up, but that is a concern for the Angels. The reliever has given up 13 home runs, a career, in 60 2/3 innings. Six have been game winners, including Jim Thome's 15th-inning walk-off shot Saturday.

"If you're constantly making mistakes and missing spots, and maybe you get away with some and some are squared up and hit out of the park, it's almost like you're out there playing Russian roulette," Scioscia said.

Speier, who is 1-8 with a 5.04 ERA in 56 games, has looked sharp in several recent outings, but has been unable to maintain his stuff from one outing to the next. That unreliability probably will cost the veteran right-hander a spot on the Angels' playoff roster.

"Justin's good outings, his command has been spotless, " Scioscia said. "Some of his rougher outings, he's missed spots on a consistent basis and has hit bats. He's throwing the ball much better over last 10 outings, but that consistency has to be there."