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Angels' Lackey pitches game of his life Posted: Saturday October 12, 2002 11:29 PMUpdated: Sunday October 13, 2002 12:05 AM
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- John Lackey picked the perfect time to pitch the game of his life. The 23-year-old rookie right-hander allowed three hits in seven shutout innings Saturday as the Anaheim Angels beat the Minnesota Twins 7-1 to take a 3-1 lead in the AL Championship Series. Lackey, who walked none and struck out seven, came out after Anaheim got two runs in the seventh off Brad Radke to snap a scoreless tie. The Angels broke the game open with five more runs in the eighth. Game 5 will be played Sunday, with Game 1 winner Joe Mays pitching for Minnesota against Kevin Appier. A victory would send the Angels to the World Series for the first time in their 42-season history. The Twins never got a runner to second base against Lackey, who went to a three-ball count only twice. He retired his first six batters before Dustan Mohr singled to start the third. A.J. Pierzynski grounded into a force, then tried to steal on the first pitch to Luis Rivas but was thrown out easily. Rivas singled before Jacque Jones lined to first to end the inning. Jones was the first of 12 straight batters retired by Lackey, who allowed a two-out single by David Ortiz in the seventh before Torii Hunter grounded into a force play. Lackey threw 79 pitches -- 55 for strikes. His seven strikeouts were one shy of a career high. Lackey and his relievers continued the Angels' exceptional pitching -- the Twins have scored only seven runs in the series, and only two in the two games at Edison Field. Selected by Anaheim in the second round of the 1999 draft, Lackey went 9-4 with a 3.66 ERA in 18 starts for the Angels this season after being recalled from Class AAA Salt Lake, where he was 8-2 with a 2.57 ERA in 16 starts. He made his big league debut June 24, allowing seven hits and three runs in seven innings at Texas in a game the Angels lost 3-2. In his first postseason appearance, Lackey worked three shutout innings in relief against the New York Yankees on Oct. 4 in the division series. The Angels trailed 4-1 when he entered, and he gave up RBI singles to the first two batters he faced, with the runs charged to starter Ramon Ortiz. Lackey was nearly perfect after that, and the Angels wound up winning 9-6. They eliminated the Yankees the following day to advance to the ALCS. Lackey faced the Twins once before -- on July 15 at the Metrodome, giving up seven hits and five runs, three earned, in six innings of a game the Angels lost 10-8 after leading 7-1. He didn't pitch well in his last four starts of the season, giving up 24 hits and 16 runs -- 11 earned -- in 19 innings. But he made up for it when it counted the most.
In his most recent start, on Sept. 26, Lackey allowed seven hits and three earned runs in five innings of a 10-5 victory over Texas, when the Angels clinched a playoff berth.
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