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Angels-Athletics Preview

Jun 10, 2010 - 6:20 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Los Angeles (33-29) at Oakland (31-30), 3:35 p.m. EDT

Los Angeles' Ervin Santana is in the midst of his most successful stretch of the season. He seems to be at his best when facing the Oakland Athletics.

Looking to win his sixth straight start and fourth in a row on the road, Santana hopes to follow a strong showing from Joe Saunders with another gem as the Angels try to take their four-game road set from the A's on Thursday.

After Saunders allowed seven hits while going the distance in Los Angeles' 7-1 victory over Oakland on Wednesday, Santana (6-3, 3.29 ERA) looks to continue his recent dominance overall and against the A's in the finale between the AL West rivals.

Santana allowed one run in six innings of an 11-2 win at Seattle on Saturday to improve 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA since losing to the Mariners on May 9.

"Ervin Santana has been terrific," manager Mike Scioscia told the Angels' official website. "Our season is definitely going to be connected with what our starting pitching is going to be."

The right-hander has been even better during his career against the A's, going 11-2 with a 1.54 ERA in 16 starts. Santana gave up three runs in six innings of a 12-3 win over Oakland on May 15.

Much like his team as a whole, Santana has pitched well on the road of late, going 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA since the May loss in Seattle.

After their four-game winning streak against Oakland was snapped in a 10-1 loss Tuesday, the Angels (33-29) bounced back to improve to 8-2 on their current 14-game stretch away from home. The Angels conclude the swing back in Southern California against the Dodgers this weekend.

Erick Aybar went 4 for 5 with two RBIs and Torii Hunter added three hits Wednesday as Los Angeles won its eighth game on a road trip for the first time since June 22 to July 1, 1987.

Aybar, who fell a homer short of the cycle, is 17 for 40 with nine runs and six RBIs in his last 10 games for the Angels, who have scored 61 runs and hit .300 on the first 10 games of the trip.

After going 4 for 5 on Tuesday, Oakland's Kurt Suzuki was hitless in four at-bats as the A's (31-30) lost for the sixth time in nine games. Suzuki is just 5 for 26 this season against the Angels, who are 6-3 versus Oakland in 2010.

Trevor Cahill (4-2, 3.21) takes the ball for the A's in this contest as he looks to bounce back from his first loss since May 16.

After allowing three runs in 19 innings while winning his previous three starts, Cahill gave up three and walked four in six innings of a 4-3 loss to Minnesota on Saturday.

"It's just one (start) that didn't work out my way," Cahill told the Athletics' official website.

The right-hander is 1-1 with a 3.04 ERA in four starts against Los Angeles. Cahill allowed three runs in seven innings of a 4-0 loss to the Angels on May 16.