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Yankees-Angels Preview

Jul 11, 2009 - 7:09 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

New York (51-35) at Los Angeles (47-37), 4:10 p.m. EDT

Given the New York Yankees' recent history in Anaheim, it's not surprising that their eight-game road winning streak ended against the Los Angeles Angels.

The Yankees try to bounce back and notch a rare victory at Angel Stadium when the teams continue their three-game series Saturday.

New York (51-35) was on its longest road winning streak since a nine-game run from April 20-May 5, 1998, but its run ended in ugly fashion with a 10-6 loss Friday. The Yankees blew leads of 4-0 and 5-1, committed two errors and fell for the 15th time in their last 20 games at Anaheim.

"We gave them extra outs. The extra outs killed us. When you're playing that team, you can only give them three outs an inning," said shortstop Derek Jeter, who dropped a popup in the seventh that led to Erick Aybar's three-run homer. "They took advantage of a couple of mistakes and scored a lot of runs. They're not going to beat themselves. They put pressure on the defense and they pitch well."

Kendry Morales also had a three-run homer as Los Angeles (47-37) avoided its second three-game home slide of the year. The offensive outburst was a timely one for the Angels, who placed sluggers Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter on the disabled list before the game.

"You don't see Erick hit home runs very often, you don't see him miss one by a couple feet foul and then come back and hit one," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Two good at-bats and we needed them."

New York's Mark Teixeira went 1 for 5 with two runs in his first game in Anaheim since leaving the Angels as a free agent in the offseason. He was showered with boos throughout the night.

Both teams are in second place in their divisions. The Angels are one-half game behind Texas in the AL West while the Yankees trail Boston by one game in the East.

The Yankees will face Jered Weaver (9-3, 3.15 ERA), who beat Texas on Monday by giving up four runs over seven innings of a 9-4 victory. He is 5-0 with a 1.57 ERA in seven outings against AL clubs at home this year.

The right-hander is 3-1 with a 6.11 ERA in five career starts versus the Yankees. He allowed four runs over six innings May 1 and didn't get the decision in a 10-9 loss.

Numerous New York hitters have poor numbers against Weaver. Nick Swisher is 3 for 19 (.158), Teixeira is 3 for 16 (.188), Johnny Damon 3 for 13 (.231), Jeter 1 for 11 (.091) and Melky Cabrera 0 for 10.

The Yankees are 6-1 in road games started by Andy Pettitte (8-4, 4.53), who is 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA in those contests. Pettitte last pitched Monday at home against Toronto and gave up six runs over six-plus innings to suffer a 7-6 loss.

This will be the veteran left-hander's second start against the Angels this year. He opposed Weaver on May 1, yielding five runs over 5 2-3 innings and not receiving a decision.

Pettitte is 12-8 with a 4.52 ERA versus Los Angeles, going 6-5 with a 3.79 ERA in 14 outings in Anaheim.