Orange County Register

Veterans Bobby Abreu and John Lackey helped the Angels turn the page on an ugly loss.

Abreu pounded two home runs and drove in four of the Angels’ five runs and Lackey motored through eight efficient innings to give the Angels a one-game lead over the Texas Rangers, who stunned them with a 9-7 victory on Hank Blalock’s home run the night before.

It wasn’t as if Abreu had been cold entering the game. His 23 June RBIs were the most in the month by any AL player other than teammate Juan Rivera.
Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie tried to sneak a fastball in on Abreu’s hands in the fifth inning and Abreu pulled it into the right-center field stands for a three-run shot. His fourth-inning blast landed a few seats over.

Another veteran who seems to have his feet under him is Lackey, who allowed just four hits in eight innings. Lackey has struck out 31 batters in his past 30 innings.

His strong, 114-pitch outing made the bullpen largely irrelevant. Closer Brian Fuentes was the only other pitcher and he worked efficiently to pick up his league-leading 22nd save.

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