Lackey, Angels back on track

OAKLAND -- The Angels now know who they’re playing and where they’re playing next week. They will open the American League division series Wednesday or Thursday against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park, with Game 2 scheduled for Friday.

As for the all-important question in Manager Mike Scioscia’s mind -- how they’re playing -- the Angels began to address that with some authority Friday night.

Coming off an ugly three-game sweep in Texas, the Angels got some of their groove back in a 2-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics at McAfee Coliseum.

John Lackey tuned up for his Game 1 playoff start by needing only 74 pitches to blank the A’s on two hits in seven innings, striking out two and walking none, to close the regular season with a 19-9 record and an AL-low 3.01 earned-run average.

Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona (3.06) and would need to throw 3 1/3 scoreless innings to pass Lackey, but he is not scheduled to start this weekend, meaning Lackey could be the first Angel to win the ERA title since Frank Tanana had a 2.54 ERA in 1977.

“That would be cool,” Lackey said. “It would be nice.”

Was Lackey aware of how many shutout innings he would need to pass Carmona?

“I haven’t done math since high school, man,” Lackey said. “I had no idea what it would take.”

The Angels didn’t crush the ball offensively, managing only five hits. Vladimir Guerrero drove in both runs with a first-inning sacrifice fly and a fourth-inning home run off Oakland ace Dan Haren, Guerrero’s 27th of the season.

But they played superb defense, reliever Justin Speier threw a scoreless eighth, and closer Francisco Rodriguez, after walking two in the ninth, got Mike Piazza on a game-ending grounder back to the mound for his 39th save.

“It was nice to get a win, to see Lackey pitch with the command he had, to play solid defense,” Scioscia said. “Facing a tough pitcher, we manufactured a run and hit a home run. Some guys are still searching in the batter’s box. Hopefully we can find some rhythm in the next few days.”

Though the Angels’ last two games have no bearing on the playoff pairings, Scioscia said many regulars, including Guerrero, who was hit by a pitch for the second consecutive game Friday night, would remain in the lineup.

Guerrero was pulled for a pinch-runner after getting drilled by an Andrew Brown fastball in the left arm, but Scioscia said Guerrero was “fine.” Third baseman Chone Figgins, mired in an 0-for-17 slump, also twisted his tender left wrist slightly while diving for a grounder down the line in the second.

But Scioscia, fearing his team might lose its edge with too much down time, doesn’t want his starters going three, four or five days without playing.

“You have to play baseball,” Scioscia said. “You can’t put all these guys in a protective bubble. They’ve got to go out there and play hard, and when you do that, you minimize the risk of injury. If you don’t do anything for a week, you might be further away from where you need to be when you kick off.”

After several starters rested in Texas, most played Friday with the exception of injured center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. One intriguing lineup addition was Juan Rivera in right field, his third start against a right-hander in 11 starts this season.

Rivera, who missed the first five months of the season while recovering from a broken leg, appeared to secure a playoff reserve role by hitting .280 with two home runs against left-handers, adding some right-handed pop to a team that is 18-21 against left-handed starters this season.

But with Guerrero relegated to designated hitter because of an elbow injury and Rivera banging out singles against Haren and the right-handed Brown on Friday night, it is becoming more apparent that Rivera may have a more prominent postseason role.

“Juan is swinging the bat well, and he could be important to us,” Scioscia said. “The fact that he’s rebounded so well from every challenge gives us confidence that he could be a factor not only on the playoff roster but in our playoff lineup.”

--

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

--

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

October quest

The American League matchups for the best-of-five division series are set. A look at the National League and what is still to be decided:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ANGELS VS. BOSTON

Red Sox have home-field advantage with Game 1 Wednesday or Thursday.

NEW YORK VS. CLEVELAND

Central Division champion Indians have home-field advantage.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

* West: Arizona clinched a playoff berth by beating Colorado. San Diego extended its wild-card lead to two games over Colorado and the Mets.

* Central: The Chicago Cubs clinched their first division title since 2003. Milwaukee was eliminated.

* East: With two games left, Philadelphia has a one-game lead over the New York Mets, who led the division by seven games on Sept. 12.