Lackey leapfrogs to ERA Lead

With seven shutout innings against the Oakland last night, John Lackey lowered his era from 3.11 to 3.01. He also moved past Fausto Carmona of the Indians into 1st place in the American League.

He should win the title. Only two pitchers (Carmona & Haren) could pass him by throwing a shutout. Neither of them are scheduled to pitch again this year. Haren faced Lackey yesterday. Carmona last pitched on Wednesday and may throw a bit on Sunday. To pass lackey, he would need to pitch 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. He could also beat Lackey by allowing one earned run in 6 1/3 innings.

AL ERA Leaders

1. John Lackey.....LAA 3.01
2. Fausto Carmona..CLE 3.06
3. Dan Haren.......OAK 3.07
4. Erik Bedard.....BAL 3.16
5. CC Sabathis.....CLE 3.21
6. Josh Beckett....BOS 3.27
7. Johan Santana...MIN 3.33
8. Kelvim Escobar..LAA 3.46

Two National League pitchers have lower ERAs than Lackey. San Diego's Jake Peavy has a 2.36 era and Arizona's Brandon Webb checks in with a 3.01 (percentage points lower than Lackey) era.

Last year, Lackey was 5th in the American League with a 3.56 era. He was also 5th in 2005 with a 3.44 era.

The last Angels player to win the ERA title was Frank Tanana in 1977.