For their biggest game of the season thus far, the Angels had the right combination to throw at the Mariners.

John Lackey -- in a diminished condition with a throat infection -- worked the body, and Garret Anderson landed the haymaker.

Anderson homered and lashed a two-run double in his first two at-bats, setting an assertive tone and sending Lackey on his way to a gritty 6-0 decision in front of 45,998 at Safeco Field.

The win, lifting the Angels' American League West lead to three games over the Mariners, assured the tourists they would still be occupying the driver's seat when they depart Seattle after Wednesday's matinee wraps up the three-game series.

"I think it speaks volumes what he did tonight," Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher said of Lackey. "To go out and make pitches, battle through it ... it shows his dedication. His strength took over. Mentally, you can't break this guy -- and physically, he puts in all the work."

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?...t=.jsp&c_id=mlb

From Yahoo.com:

Lackey, pitching with a possible case of strep throat severe enough to cause the Angels to form a Plan B in case he couldn't start, made the Mariners feel ill with his second straight seven-hit shutout against them, helping Los Angeles beat Seattle 6-0 Monday night to increase its lead in the AL West to three games.

"I was feeling weaker as the game went on," Lackey said through team spokesman Eric Kay, who relayed the comment moments before Lackey shuffled with an ashen face through the clubhouse, tossed a sheet of pills into his locker and headed into the bathroom having joined Boston's Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield as the major leagues' only 16-game winners.

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If Lackey is this dominant against a good team when he's sick....wow!

Define 'good'.

Good...for the AL West...;)

Lackey fucking owns us every time. Every time. I knew we'd lose. Lackey vs. Batista isn't even fair.

Doesn't matter, if Weaver can pull another win out of his ass today. Felix can beat little Weaver. We always beat up on him.