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RHP Santana seeks continued success against A's

Sep 29, 2006 - 1:25 PM Oakland (92-67) at LA Angels (87-72) 10:05 pm EDT

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) - Ervin Santana has had more success against the Oakland Athletics than any other team in his brief major league career.

Santana seeks a sixth win in eight lifetime meetings with the A's on Friday, when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim host the second contest of a season-ending four-game series.

In his most recent start Sunday, Santana (15-8, 4.43 ERA) allowed just one run and two hits in eight innings of a 7-1 win at Oakland. The 23-year-old righthander improved to 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA in seven starts vs. the A's, against whom he has afforded just a .198 average in 51 innings.

Santana has gone 9-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 16 home starts this season, improving his career mark at Angel Stadium to 18-5 with a 3.20 ERA. He has managed just a 9-11 record and a 6.46 ERA in 25 career road outings.

American League West Division champion Oakland counters with Esteban Loaiza (11-8, 4.84), who allowed five runs and nine hits in five innings of an eventual 10-9 loss at Seattle on Monday. He has an 11.32 ERA in two road starts this month, a sharp contrast to the 1.98 ERA he has sported in winning all three home outings in September.

Loaiza has a lifetime mark of 3-3 with a 6.00 ERA in 14 appearances - 12 starts - vs. the Angels. He has gone 0-1 with a 5.65 ERA in three starts against them since signing with Oakland over the winter.

John Lackey gave up four hits and recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in eight outstanding innings as Anaheim posted a 2-0 victory in Thursday's series opener. The Angels have limited the A's to a .170 average (87-for-511) in the first 16 meetings this year.