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Angels-Rays Preview

Jun 9, 2009 - 3:16 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Los Angeles (28-27) at Tampa Bay (29-29), 7:08 p.m. EDT

Jered Weaver credits much of his success to the work he put in perfecting his slider. James Shields' pitches have appeared particularly honed when facing the Los Angeles Angels at Tropicana Field.

Weaver, one of the majors' hottest pitchers, takes the mound for the Angels as they try to beat Shields on the road for the first time Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Though he's been facing some tough lineups, Weaver (5-2, 2.26 ERA) is 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in his last six starts, including two complete games. The right-hander struck out a career-high 10 to earn a win in his last outing, giving up one run and three hits in seven innings of Los Angeles' 8-1 victory over Toronto on Wednesday night.

Weaver has used a hard-breaking slider to bounce back from a subpar 2008, when he went 11-10 with a 4.33 ERA.

"The slider is a lot sharper," Weaver said. "I've been trying to mess around with a couple of different grips over the past couple of years. Me and (pitching coach Mike Butcher) worked on one in spring training and it's come around and I've gotten a good grasp on where to put it and where to locate it. That's been the things that's been working for me."

Weaver is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA and a .188 opponents' batting average in three career starts versus the Rays, who lead the majors in runs with 327.

Shields (5-4, 3.40), meanwhile, has been outstanding in five starts at home against the Angels, going 4-0 with a 1.49 ERA while yielding just one home run in 36 1-3 innings. He's 4-2 with a 3.22 ERA in seven career starts against Los Angeles.

Shields has gone 3-1 with a 2.02 ERA in his last five outings at home overall. He recorded a win Thursday at Kansas City in his last appearance, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out a season-high eight in eight innings of a 3-2 Tampa Bay victory.

The veteran right-hander will face an Angels team that went 3 for 17 (.176) with runners in scoring position in a 9-6 loss to Detroit on Sunday, falling to 3-3 on a nine-game trip. The previous day, Los Angeles (28-27) was held to just four hits in a 2-1 loss to the Tigers.

Bobby Abreu was a bright spot at the plate Sunday, collecting his 2,000th career hit. The right-fielder is 6 for 18 (.333) with a homer and three doubles against Shields.

Evan Longoria, hitless in three at-bats against Weaver, returned to the Tampa Bay's starting lineup Monday night against the New York Yankees after missing nearly a week with an injured left hamstring. The third baseman went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts and a walk as the Rays (29-30) lost 5-3.

"He came in. He was adamant. He felt ready to go today, so we threw him out there," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Longoria, batting .316 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs, leads the AL in voting for this year's All-Star game. He hit .368 (7 for 19) with three homers and seven RBIs in six games against the Angels as a rookie last year.

Tampa Bay won that season's series 6-3.