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Angels-Giants Preview

Jun 17, 2009 - 6:29 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Los Angeles (34-29) at San Francisco (34-30), 3:45 p.m. EDT

The San Francisco Giants haven't been swept at home all season, but an offensive onslaught by the Los Angeles Angels has made that a real possibility going into Wednesday's series finale.

Still, the Angels have one more major obstacle to overcome.

Tim Lincecum will be on the mound to try to snap Los Angeles' season-high five-game winning streak, and the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner will be looking for a second straight shutout as he faces the Angels for the first time.

The Giants (34-30) were 21-9 at home coming into this series, and their pitchers were in a serious groove. San Francisco hurlers allowed three total runs during their weekend sweep of Oakland, and they had a 2.48 ERA in their previous 26 games.

But the Angels have reversed both trends, pounding out 17 runs and 31 hits in the first two games of their series at AT&T Park. It's just the second series between the clubs since Los Angeles beat the Giants in seven games in the 2002 World Series.

Mike Napoli paced the Angels (34-29) in Tuesday's 8-1 victory, going 4 for 5 with a three-run homer and helping to make up for the absence of Torii Hunter, who didn't play after bruising his ribs Monday.

Los Angeles has averaged 8.6 runs during its five-game winning streak, and its 7-1 interleague record is the best in the majors.

"All of us are going up there and feeding off each other," Napoli said. "One guy's doing it and the others are following. We have a lot of good hitters on this team and we're showing now what we're able to do."

It should be considerably tougher to extend their run against Lincecum (6-1, 2.66 ERA). The right-hander has not lost since April 12, going 6-0 with a 2.15 ERA in his last 11 starts.

He blanked Oakland in a 3-0 win Friday, also adding the go-ahead RBI single.

"He did it all tonight. He had the big hit there for us, pitched well," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We say enough things about him but tonight he was special."

While Lincecum was the NL's best pitcher last year, his opponent Wednesday didn't earn as much attention as his Giants teammate. Matt Palmer, a 31st-round pick of the Giants in 2002, made three starts for San Francisco, going 0-2 with an 8.53 ERA.

The Angels signed Palmer (6-0, 4.11) to a minor league contract in the offseason, and the 30-year-old has played the part of a savior in Los Angeles' banged-up rotation. Since he still has rookie eligibility, Palmer is the first player over 30 in major league history to win the first six decisions of his rookie season.

He returned to the rotation in place of Kelvim Escobar Friday against San Diego, allowing four runs - three earned - in six innings of an 11-6 win, and he'll now face his former teammates.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," he told the Angels' official Web site.

Another Angels fill-in was a key figure in Tuesday's victory. Making his major league debut, Sean O'Sullivan gave up five hits and a run in seven innings before being optioned back to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Los Angeles' bullpen also pitched two hitless innings on the day that longtime setup man Scot Shields had season-ending knee surgery.

Still, the Angels had trouble with San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval, who went 2 for 4 with a double to extend his hitting streak to 10. He is 19 for 38 with four home runs during the streak.

Sandoval made three errors at first base in the game, but Bochy said he'd play third Wednesday.