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Indians-Angels Preview

Apr 26, 2010 - 1:52 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Cleveland (8-9) at Los Angeles (9-10), 10:05 p.m. EDT

After a pair of comeback victories over the weekend, the Los Angeles Angels appear headed in the right direction.

To keep that momentum going, they'll try to take advantage of a team that's going the wrong way.

The Angels conclude their 10-game homestand with a three-game series beginning Monday night against the struggling Cleveland Indians.

Los Angeles (10-10) won a season-high five straight earlier this month, including the first two of this homestand. After two straight losses to Detroit, the Angels took two of three over the weekend to hand the reigning World Series champion Yankees their first series loss of 2010.

The Angels trailed by two runs or more in both victories. They spotted the Yankees a 3-0 lead in the second inning Sunday, but scored five times in the next two frames and went ahead on No. 9 hitter Brandon Wood's two-run double in the fourth.

Kendry Morales' third homer in five games - a three-run shot in the seventh - secured the eventual 8-4 victory.

"We played well this weekend and were fortunate to win two out of three," manager Mike Scioscia said. "But it took a lot of pitching on our side to hold those guys down and a lot of clutch hitting, which we needed."

Cleveland (8-10) isn't hitting much at all. The Indians have been shut out three times in five games, including an 11-0 loss Sunday in Oakland.

"I'm gonna tell you for the last time, if I win 90 games I don't care that the other 70 that I lose are shutouts," manager Manny Acta said. "All I care about is winning and losing ballgames. Shutouts is a terminology of you losing a game. It wasn't going to make me feel any better if I had lost 11-1 today."

Hitting a major league-worst .223 overall, Cleveland has been outscored 34-15 while losing four of six. The prospects for an offensive revival don't seem strong Monday against Angels starter Jered Weaver (2-0, 2.77 ERA), who has given up three runs or fewer in all four of his starts.

The right-hander was in line for a victory Wednesday after allowing two runs over seven innings against Detroit, but the Angels' bullpen failed to hold a one-run lead en route to a 4-3 defeat.

Weaver is 2-1 with a 4.17 ERA in eight career starts against the Indians, with the most recent the most impressive. He notched his second career shutout Aug. 19 at Cleveland, scattering seven hits and one walk while striking out three.

He'll be opposed by Cleveland's David Huff (1-2, 3.00), who has sandwiched a pair of losses this season around a complete-game effort of his own - a 3-2 win over Texas on April 15. The left-hander lost at Minnesota on Wednesday, giving up four runs and walking a career-high six in six innings as the Indians fell 6-0.

Huff has faced the Angels once before - a 7-6 loss in Anaheim last July 28, when he yielded five runs in seven innings.