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Royals-Angels Preview

Aug 10, 2010 - 6:14 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Kansas City (47-64) at Los Angeles (56-57), 10:05 p.m. EDT

The Los Angeles Angels continue to mix and match players in their lineup without Torii Hunter, and the results haven't been bad.

The Angels will be without Hunter one final time before his suspension ends when they continue this three-game home series Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals.

The absence of Hunter has forced manager Mike Scioscia to put together different lineups for Los Angeles (57-57), which has won two of three without him. The center fielder was ejected from last Friday's victory at Detroit, throwing a bag of balls onto the field to draw a four-game ban.

The Angels, though, have not missed Hunter's presence with 20 runs in this stretch, including a 6-4 win over Kansas City (47-65) on Monday.

Bobby Abreu homered among his three hits and drove in four runs to continue to live up to his reputation as a hot hitter in August, when his career average is .315. He has 22 RBIs in his last 24 games.

"I've been hitting the ball good all year, I haven't been getting any luck," said Abreu, whose .257 average is 40 points below his career mark. "It's been a tough year for me."

The Angels won the last three AL West titles. They are in third place, 8 1/2 games behind Texas.

"We've had a sense of urgency from day one," Scioscia said. "We know we need to play more consistent baseball, get momentum going and it'll show up in the wins column. Hopefully, we'll keep this going."

Dan Haren (0-2, 3.60 ERA) was acquired from Arizona on July 25 for a possible pennant race, and he's 0-6 with a 4.27 ERA in 10 starts since his last victory June 12.

Haren narrowly avoided his third loss in as many starts with the Angels after he allowed four runs in 6 1-3 innings Thursday in a 5-4 loss at Baltimore. Los Angeles rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game to get him off the hook.

The veteran right-hander's 2.11 ERA in six career starts against Kansas City is his lowest against any AL team. He's 3-1 in those outings, pitching at least seven innings four times.

Kansas City's Bryan Bullington (0-1, 5.14) will make his first start since Sept. 28, 2008. Bullington is a former No. 1 overall draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2002, and he's 0-6 with a 5.09 ERA in 18 career appearances with four different teams, including 0-5 with a 7.15 ERA in five starts.

"I'm still searching," Bullington told the Royals' official website. "Hopefully I can put a solid outing together and give us a chance."

The right-hander has spent most of this season at Triple-A Omaha, going 8-2 with a 2.82 ERA. Bullington has never faced the Angels.

Yuniesky Betancourt rejoined the Royals after missing the weekend series in Seattle to be with his pregnant wife. Betancourt celebrated the birth of his daughter with his first three-hit game Monday since June 11.