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Jun 21, 2009 - 6:05 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Los Angeles (45-24) at Los Angeles (36-30), 8:05 p.m. EDT

After missing the first six weeks with an elbow injury, Los Angeles Angels right-hander John Lackey has had an up-and-down season. When he has faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in Anaheim in the Freeway Series, however, he's enjoyed nothing but success.

Lackey brings a 21-inning scoreless home streak against the Dodgers into Sunday night's series finale as he tries to improve to 9-0 in his career in interleague starts at Angel Stadium.

The Angels (36-30) have seen Lackey (2-2, 6.10 ERA) sprinkle in a few solid outings while getting hit hard in others in 2009 since he made his season debut May 16.

At home in interleague play, though, Lackey is 8-0 with a 2.00 ERA in 10 starts - all wins for the Angels. That includes a 4-0 mark with a 0.33 ERA in four outings against the Dodgers, with 21 straight scoreless innings.

Lackey faced the Dodgers (45-24) on the road May 23 and yielded three runs over seven innings in a 5-4, 10-inning loss. In his last start, he won Monday at San Francisco by allowing three runs over seven innings while striking out a season-high 10 and walking none in a 9-7 victory.

"I really established the ball inside early in the game," Lackey told the Angels' official Web site Monday, "and that allowed me to get guys to go after the curveball. It's probably the best curveball I've had so far this year."

Several hitters for the Dodgers have fared poorly versus Lackey. Casey Blake is 2 for 16, Andre Ethier 2 for 9 and Matt Kemp is hitless in nine at-bats with seven strikeouts.

Those three hitters combined for four hits and three RBIs Saturday as the Dodgers ended the Angels' season-high seven-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory. Russell Martin added three hits, including his first homer of the year, to help the Dodgers improve to 2-3 against the Angels.

With the Dodgers starting left-hander Clayton Kershaw (3-5, 4.13) on Sunday, the Angels are hoping Juan Rivera can take advantage. Rivera is 0 for 2 with a walk in his career versus Kershaw, but he is one of the top hitters in the majors against left-handers with a .431 average.

Rivera is 7 for 20 with two homers and five runs scored against the Dodgers this year while leadoff hitter Chone Figgins is 10 for 20 in the Freeway Series, and 19 for 45 (.422) with 11 runs scored in 11 interleague games.

"When you're a line-drive-hitting team like we are," Figgins told the Angels' site, "you build on your own momentum. We get a base hit, go first to third, and suddenly, everything is in motion."

Kershaw (3-5, 4.13) is 0-2 with a 3.29 ERA in three starts since his last win May 27 at Colorado. He gave up four hits over 5 2-3 innings Tuesday in a 5-4, 10-inning win over Oakland.

That is the Dodgers' only win in Kershaw's five career interleague starts - he is 0-1 with a 2.66 ERA in those outings. Kershaw's lone career start against the Angels came May 22 and he gave up one run in five innings in a 3-1 loss.