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Orioles-Angels Preview

Aug 29, 2010 - 6:03 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Baltimore (47-83) at Los Angeles (63-67), 3:35 p.m. EDT

The Baltimore Orioles have already clinched their first winning August in 13 years, but they can add a couple more achievements in their one of their final games of the month.

The Orioles will try to complete their first season sweep against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday and record their first three-game sweep in Anaheim in 11 years.

Baltimore improved to 15-11 this month after a 5-0 victory Saturday night over the Angels. Rookie third baseman Josh Bell's two-run homer in the fifth inning broke a scoreless tie and gave the Orioles (47-83) their first winning month since June 2008.

"It's kind of like the economy," manager Buck Showalter said. "You like anything that shows that things might have a chance to get better."

Baltimore has played all but one of those games under Showalter, who made his debut Aug. 3 against the Angels at Camden Yards.

The Orioles outscored them 20-14 in that three-game series but have an 8-1 edge in this trip to Anaheim. Baltimore, which had dropped 25 of 35 there before this season, hasn't swept the Angels at home since Sept. 17-19, 1999.

The closest the Orioles came to a season sweep over Los Angeles was an 8-1 mark in 2003. The teams began playing each other in 1961, and Baltimore had dropped 26 of 35 overall heading into this season.

To finish the sweep, the Orioles will likely need Jeremy Guthrie (7-13, 4.13 ERA) to find the form that saw him post a 1.51 ERA in six starts following the All-Star break. The right-hander has given up six runs in each of his consecutive losses since then and allowed a season-high 10 hits to the Chicago White Sox during a 7-5 defeat Tuesday.

Guthrie won his last start against the Angels (63-67) on Aug. 3, yielding three runs and five hits over seven innings. He's 2-2 with a 4.64 ERA in six career starts versus Los Angeles and 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA during his three in Anaheim.

Like Guthrie, Los Angeles' Jered Weaver (11-9, 3.21) is also trying to bounce back after a pair of difficult outings. The right-hander has an 8.18 ERA over his past two starts after going 3-2 with a 1.93 ERA in his previous six.

He was on the wrong end of a 4-0 loss in Minnesota on Aug. 22, giving up all the runs in the fifth inning.

"I tried to battle as much as I can," Weaver told the team's website. "They got me for four runs, and we lost."

After winning his first two matchups with the Orioles, Weaver has dropped his last two. He matched a career high with eight runs allowed in a 16-6 rout last season.

He might not have to face Orioles starters Brian Roberts and Adam Jones. Roberts left Friday's 3-1 victory with a strained left hip, and Jones has missed the past four games with a bruised left shoulder.