After giving up 13 runs to the Rays in the opener at Angel Stadium, the Angels came back and held the Rays down with their usual good pitching. Their most recent win was a 4-2 victory over Tampa Bay to take the series before the team gets set to begin interleague play by hosting the Atlanta Braves on Friday. Scott Kazmir has been lights out of late, so John Lackey had to be at the top of his game. Was he ever! After giving up a run on a couple of hits in the first, Lackey settled down to pitch 7 1/3 innings, giving up 2 runs total. Kazmir looked sharp early on, no-hitting the Angels through the first     4 2/3 innings. Gary Matthews Jr. then tied the game at 1 with a line drive homer to left field, his 7th of the season.

After Tampa Bay took the lead in the 7th inning, the Angels came right back at Kazmir, with a 2-run single by Macier Izturis. Vlad Guererro padded the lead against J.P. Howell in the 8th, golfing his 10th home run of the year. Francisco Rodriguez earned save no. 27 in this one.

John Lackey: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

Vladimir Guererro: Has 3 home runs in his last 4 games

Scott Kazmir: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 10 SO