(Best E Casino) -- With still a week to go before the playoffs start, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hurler John Lackey has a couple of opportunities to work out his recent mound struggles. One will come this afternoon, when the 2007 All-Star tries to pitch the Angels to a three-game road sweep of the Texas Rangers

Lackey is 0-2 with a 6.75 earned run average over his last three starts and has served up five home runs in 17 1/3 innings during that span. In his last outing, the burly right-hander held Oakland scoreless over the game's first four frames, but then was tagged for four runs in an 8-1 Anaheim loss. He allowed nine hits as well before departing after 5 1/3 innings.

The native Texan also had a shaky performance against the Rangers at home back on August 31. He surrendered four runs on nine hits -- including homers to Josh Hamilton and Marlon Byrd -- in five innings of a 4-3 defeat to Texas.

In his lone appearance at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington this season, Lackey was reached for six runs and a whopping 15 hits during a 5 2/3-inning no- decision. He is 9-9 with a 5.45 ERA through 25 lifetime starts against Texas.

Although Lackey has had his troubles as of late, his team has been doing just fine even with the AL West title already in hand. The playoff-bound Angels have won three straight games and eight times in their last 10 contests following Saturday's 7-3 triumph over the Rangers.

Garret Anderson led the way for Anaheim last night by going 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI, including a run-scoring single during a two-run seventh inning that snapped a 3-3 tie. Erick Aybar added two hits and scored three times in the win.

Justin Speier (2-8) picked up the victory after tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, with Francisco Rodriguez retiring the game's final batter to become the first pitcher in major league history to record 60 saves in a single season.

Hank Blalock went 4-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and run scored for Texas, which has dropped three in a row and five of its last seven. Starting pitcher Vicente Padilla (13-8) allowed five runs on seven hits and threw two wild pitches during his six-plus inning stint.

The Rangers will send Scott Feldman back to the mound to pitch today's finale. The team had planned on shutting down the converted reliever, who's thrown a career-high 139 1/3 innings this season, for the remainder of the year. However, a recent finger injury to Brandon McCarthy has altered those plans.

Feldman has lost his last two starts, including a 7-1 setback at Oakland on September 13 in which he gave up six runs in just 4 2/3 innings. The right- hander last pitched in relief against Detroit on Wednesday, allowing a run in one inning of work.

The 25-year-old is 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA in 11 career games (2 starts) against Anaheim. He lost to the Halos at Angel Stadium on August 30 after permitting four runs on eight hits through six innings.

The Angels have won 10 of their 15 matchups with the Rangers this season, including six of the eight games contested in Arlington.