More strong pitching and late clutch hitting helped the Angels take down the Washington Nationals by a score of 3-2 on Monday night. John Lackey got the win, cruising through 8 innings with only 97 pitches thrown. K-Rod closed out the game to get his 31st save.

Washington got on the board first, when Willie Harris led off the bottom of the 3rd inning with a home run.  A sacrifice fly from Jeff Mathis knotted the game up in the 5th inning. The Angels wouldn’t score anymore against Jason Bergmann, who pitched a tremendous game. A triple by Willie Harris and a throwing error by, of all people, John Lackey gave the Nats the lead. Reliever Saul Rivera could not hold the Angels down, however, as they rallied in the 8th to take the lead and the game.

John Lackey: 8 IP, 6 H, 2 R, (1 ER) 2 BB, 6 SO

Jason Bergmann: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

Willie Harris: 2-4, 3B, HR