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Blue Jays-Angels Preview

Aug 14, 2010 - 6:58 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Toronto (61-54) at Los Angeles (59-58), 9:05 p.m. EDT

It's been more than four years since the Toronto Blue Jays won a road series over the Los Angeles Angels. The Blue Jays are hoping Brett Cecil has healed enough to help end that drought.

After his teammates shut out the Angels in the opener, Cecil will try to follow with his third consecutive win Saturday night in a start pushed back two days because of an injured right knee.

Toronto has been one of the AL's hottest teams with a 13-6 record since July 23, including five wins in seven road games. The Blue Jays (61-54) have used that run to draw within eight games of wild card-leading Tampa Bay.

Cecil (9-5, 3.62 ERA) has helped by going 2-0 with a 2.06 ERA over his last six starts. He allowed one run for the second consecutive outing Aug. 6 in a 2-1 victory over the Rays but hurt his knee after attempting to jump a set of stairs at Rogers Centre on Sunday.

The mishap required three stitches, but he emerged from a bullpen session Wednesday with no pain.

The Blue Jays called up Brad Mills to make Cecil's scheduled start Thursday against Boston. Marc Rzepczynski was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Friday and combined with two relievers on a three-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Angels (59-58).

Cecil will try to follow that performance with another impressive outing against Los Angeles. In his only matchup with the Angels on May 24, the left-hander allowed two hits over 7 1-3 innings in a 6-0 road win.

He'll face a team that had won five of six before Friday's loss and hasn't lost any of its six series at home against the Blue Jays since May 16-18, 2006. Los Angeles leads the season series 5-2.

Ervin Santana (11-8, 4.12) will try to add to that advantage by posting his fourth win in five starts.

His lone loss in that span came Aug. 4, getting tagged for nine runs and 12 hits over 3 2-3 innings in Baltimore, but he rebounded Monday to allow three runs in 6 1-3 innings of a 6-4 win over Kansas City.

"I don't have my best stuff," Santana said. "I battled."

He could have better luck against the Blue Jays as he's posted a 2.00 ERA in two complete-game wins this season, including an 8-3 home victory May 25. The right-hander has won his last three starts versus Toronto.

Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, meanwhile, will try to homer in his 12th consecutive series, the longest streak since Ryan Howard went deep over 13 in a row in 2006. The outfielder, who has 16 of his major league-best 36 homers since July 2, is 2 for 6 in his career against Santana and homered off him in May.

Bautista is chasing the team record of 47 homers set by George Bell during his 1987 AL MVP season.

"There are a bunch of games left, so I have to focus on each game and hope for good results like I've been doing all season," Bautista told the team's official website.

Los Angeles' Bobby Abreu, hitting .370 since moving into the leadoff spot Aug. 6, went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts against Cecil in the May 24 defeat.