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Athletics-Angels Preview

Aug 28, 2009 - 7:06 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Oakland (56-71) at Los Angeles (75-51), 10:05 p.m. EDT

A four-game series with the last-place Oakland Athletics may have been viewed an ideal chance for the Los Angeles Angels to widen their lead atop the AL West. That didn't quite go according to plan in the opener.

The Angels will try to begin turning around a rough stretch Friday night when they continue their series against the A's.

Los Angeles (75-51) was limited to three hits in Thursday's 2-0 loss to Oakland (56-71), falling for the sixth time in eight games while seeing its division lead on Texas shrink from a season-high 6 1/2 games to four. The Angels have seven games left with the Rangers among their final 36 games.

"The AL West is a tough division to get through," manager Mike Scioscia told the Angels' official Web site. "I kind of laugh at people who say it's been easy. It's got the best record, National League or American League, the last 10 years. That says it in a nutshell."

The Angels appear to be having some trouble with the A's, losing three straight at home while holding a 6-4 advantage overall.

Rookie Trevor Bell (1-1, 9.49 ERA) will take the mound looking to rebound from his worst performance since being called up from Triple-A Salt Lake on Aug. 12.

The 22-year-old right-hander's attempt to become the fifth starter took a blow Sunday, when he was tagged for six runs and six hits with four walks before getting pulled with two outs in the second of an 8-3 loss at Toronto. He lasted 5 1-3 innings in each of his previous two outings, allowing seven total runs.

"We're just going to have to turn the page on this one for Trevor," Scioscia said after Sunday's loss. "He just didn't have the command that he usually has and wasn't throwing enough strikes. When he was coming back into counts, those guys were ready for it.

"We need somebody that's going to go out there and give us a chance to win like the other four guys need to. "(Sunday) was obviously not what we would have hoped."

The A's, losers of six of nine, will turn to Brett Tomko (3-2, 3.69), who has been impressive in two starts since entering the rotation after being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on Aug. 17.

The 36-year-old right-hander has won both of his starts with Oakland while allowing one run and eight hits with nine strikeouts in 11 innings. That's a vast improvement after he went 1-2 with a 5.23 ERA in 15 relief appearances for the New York Yankees, who designated him for assignment July 21.

"I basically went from zero pitches to 90 pitches in 3 1/2 weeks," said Tomko, who signed a minor-league deal with the A's on Aug. 5. "It was kind of an accelerated spring training for me. I went home and still worked out, played catch and threw bullpens. I was only curious about how my arm would react and it's been OK."

The 13-year-veteran was superb Sunday, yielding one run and three hits with a season-high eight strikeouts in six innings of a 9-4 win over Central-leading Detroit.

Tomko is 0-1 with a 4.13 ERA in 10 games - four starts - against the Angels. He's faced them once this year, allowing one run in 1 1-3 innings of relief in mop-up duty of the Yankees' 14-8 loss at Anaheim on July 11.