Get this: John Lackey managed to top his teammates, Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo, a day after they didn’t allow a hit against the Dodgers.
How’d Lackey do it? He won.
Lackey allowed just three hits in 8 2-3 innings to lead the Angels to a 1-0 win over the Dodgers on Sunday. The Angels lost by the same score on Saturday, even though Weaver and Arredondo held the Dodgers hitless for an unofficial, eight-inning no-hitter.
“Tough luck for Weave. He was throwing the ball really well,” Lackey said after his win.
Lackey (6-1), whose 2008 debut was delayed six weeks by a strained triceps, allowed only five base runners in a dominant performance. He struck out nine and walked two. The right-hander retired 14 in a row at one juncture.
He said he took the mound, “Thinking I’ve got to get it done, no matter what.”
Avoiding a sweep in the weekend set at Dodger Stadium, the Angels scored their first – and only – run of the series on Mike Napoli’s RBI single off Derek Lowe in the second inning. Howie Kendrick singled with two outs, Gary Matthews Jr. walked, then Napoli followed with a single to right.
Lackey said he wasn’t really thinking then that the one run might hold up, saying, “But it was one of those days. We’ve got to win any way we can. If you do get a run, you’ve got to make it stand up.”
In other games Sunday, it was: Detroit 4, Colorado 3; Cincinnati 9, Cleveland 5; Toronto 1, Atlanta 0; N.Y. Mets 3, N.Y. Yankees 1; Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 3; Washington 3, Baltimore 2, 12 innings; Houston 3, Boston 2; Minnesota 5, Milwaukee 0; St. Louis 9, Kansas City 6; Seattle 9, San Diego 2; San Francisco 11, Oakland 1; Texas 5, Philadelphia 1; White Sox 5, Cubs 1. In the National League, Florida beat Arizona 4-3.
Francisco Rodriguez, who came in with two outs in the ninth and runners on first and second, threw a wild pitch before walking Jeff Kent to load the bases. He then got James Loney on a routine grounder to second to earn his major league-leading 32nd save.
“After the job Lackey did, you don’t want to go out there and let it get away,” Rodriguez said.
Lowe (5-8) pitched well, holding the Angels to one run on five hits and two walks in his seven innings. He struck out seven.
“We’ve been getting good pitching, but Lackey did such a great job,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “Derek did a sensational job for us. We’re not doing anything offensively, but I think this was more about Lackey than about us. He’s like a surgeon out there.”
Lackey limited the Dodgers to a walk in the first, a single by Kent in the second, and a single by Juan Pierre in the sixth before giving up a single to Delwyn Young and a walk to Russell Martin in the ninth.
On Saturday night, Weaver pitched six hitless innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter, and Arredondo retired six in a row over the next two innings, but it didn’t count as a no-hitter since the Dodgers didn’t bat in the ninth.
The only run in that game scored after Weaver’s fielding error in the fifth inning allowed Matt Kemp to reach first. Kemp stole second, went to third on catcher Jeff Mathis’ throwing error and came home on Blake DeWitt’s sacrifice fly.
“Last night was bizarre,” Rodriguez said. “Today was a great game.”
Tigers 4, Rockies 3
At Detroit, Dane Sardinha hit a two-run triple for his first major league hit to rally the Tigers to a win over woeful Colorado, giving Detroit a three-game sweep.
Twins 5, Brewers 0
At Minneapolis, Kevin Slowey (5-6) breezed through his fourth straight dominant start, beating Ben Sheets (9-2) and Milwaukee with a three-hit shutout.
Marlins 4, Diamondbacks 3
At Miami, Jorge Cantu hit a game-ending RBI single, Hanley Ramirez hit a tying home run and the Marlins came back to beat Arizona.
Mets 3, Yankees 1
At New York, Oliver Perez (6-5) limited the Yankees to one run and three hits in seven sharp innings, Carlos Delgado homered again and the Mets won this year’s Subway Series.
Astros 3, Red Sox 2
At Houston, Mark Loretta had a pinch-hit, RBI single in the eighth inning off Hideki Okajima as the Astros took two of three from the Red Sox.
Cardinals 9, Royals 6
At Kansas City, Mo., Jason LaRue drove in four runs with a home run and a triple and Albert Pujols also homered, leading the Cardinals over the Royals.
Mariners 9, Padres 2
At San Diego, Ichiro Suzuki went 5-for-5, Adrian Beltre and Jeff Clement homered and the Mariners beat Jake Peavy (5-5) and the punchless Padres for a three-game sweep.
Reds 9, Indians 5
At Cleveland, Bronson Arroyo (5-7) bounced back from the worst start of his career and Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer to help Cincinnati beat Cleveland for the fifth time in six games this season.
Rays 4, Pirates 3
At Pittsburgh, backup catcher Shawn Riggans homered and drove in two runs, Andy Sonnanstine (9-3) pitched seven effective innings and Tampa Bay beat Pittsburgh.
Blue Jays 1, Braves 0
At Toronto, A.J. Burnett (8-7) pitched seven shutout innings, Alex Rios drove in the only run of the game and Toronto beat Atlanta.
Nationals 3, Orioles 2, 12 innings
At Washington, Ronnie Belliard hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning to give the Nationals a win over the Orioles in front of 39,824 fans – the largest crowd in the three-month history of Nationals Park.
Giants 11, Athletics 1
At Oakland, Calif., Rich Aurilia homered and matched his career high with five RBIs to help San Francisco get its first series win in the Bay Area rivalry in two years.
Rangers 5, Phillies 1
At Arlington, Texas, Eric Hurley (1-1) pitched into the sixth inning to earn his first major league win and Chris Davis homered off Jamie Moyer (7-6) to lead the Rangers.
White Sox 5, Cubs 1
Carlos Quentin, Brian Anderson and Jim Thome homered to back Mark Buehrle’s seven strong innings as the White Sox completed a three-game sweep at U.S. Cellular Field.
Buehrle (6-6) won his fourth straight decision, allowing six hits and an unearned run in a matchup of lefties with the Cubs’ Sean Marshall (0-2). Marshall gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings, two of them homers.
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