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Angels look to continue home success

Apr 25, 2007 - 3:03 PM Tampa Bay (9-11) at LA Angels (10-10) 10:05 pm EDT

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim aim to continue their home success when they take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday.

The Angels have won just one of their first eight road games but are 9-3 at home. They swept a three-game series from Seattle and split two games with Detroit in the first five contests of a seven-game homestand.

Anaheim posted a 9-8, 10-inning triumph over Detroit on Tuesday. Erick Aybar's grounder in the 10th inning allowed pinch-runner Reggie Willits to score the winning run, lifting the Angels to the victory.

The Angels will start John Lackey (2-2, 2.55 ERA), who won his two starts at home before dropping two road contests. He is 6-1 with a 2.61 ERA in eight career starts vs. the Devil Rays.

In his last outing, the righthander yielded three runs and eight hits in seven innings but was outdueled by Oakland's Dan Haren in a 3-0 loss last Wednesday.

Lackey will be opposed by Edwin Jackson (0-2, 6.75), who has allowed 12 runs - 11 earned - and 16 hits in 14 2/3 innings over three starts this season. His last time out, the righthander yielded three runs and five hits in six innings of a 4-3 loss to Cleveland last Friday.

Tampa Bay is coming off a two-game sweep of the New York Yankees. Carl Crawford hit a grand slam to lift the Devil Rays to a 6-4 victory on Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, Tampa Bay placed rookie third baseman Akinori Iwamura on the disabled list with a strained right oblique. The Japanese import is hitting .339 and leads the team with 15 runs scored.