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Wells, Angels continue set with hosting Blue Jays

Aug 13, 2011 - 2:34 PM (Sports Network) - Back in familiar surroundings for the first time since taking his talent to the Golden State, Vernon Wells returned to Toronto on Friday along with the LA Angels of Anaheim and today the teams meet for the second time in a three-game set.

Last night the Angels snapped a brief two-game slide with a 5-1 victory in the series opener. Torii Hunter knocked in a pair of runs and scored himself for Los Angeles, with the team getting by with a mere four hits. Also getting in on the action was Wells, making his first appearance at Rogers Centre since being dealt by the Jays to LA, as he cranked out his 17th home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from Brandon Morrow in the top of the second inning.

Angels starter Ervin Santana threw just 102 pitches as he went the distance, allowing one run on seven hits and a pair of walks, while striking out six in his ninth win of the campaign. For Santana, who has allowed only four earned runs over his last five outings, it was his fourth complete game of the season.

As for the Jays, Eric Thames and Jose Molina both came up with a pair of hits, the former connecting on a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to prevent the shutout. Morrow was saddled with the loss as he gave up all five runs -- four earned -- on four hits and just as many walks over seven innings of work. Morrow struck out three and relievers Casey Janssen and Jesse Litsch both fanned a pair as each pitched one inning. With the loss Toronto has fallen in two straight and three of the last four outings.

"They played very good, they played sharp. Santana was outstanding on the mound," said Blue Jays manager John Farrell. "Thames gives us a little bit of life late with the solo home run, but not many opportunities that we created for ourselves tonight."

Ready to spin his magic on the hill once again for the Angels is returning ace Jered Weaver, fresh off a six-game suspension handed down after he threw at the head of Detroit's Alex Avila. The ban was issued two days later on Aug. 2 and was originally appealed by Weaver, who then later dropped the fight against the punishment.

One of the top winners in the American League with 14 victories, Weaver easily leads all starters in the majors in ERA with a 1.78 mark, the only hurler in the AL with an ERA below 2.15 heading into the weekend.

The right-hander, already 1-0 this season and showing a 7-1 career record against Toronto, threw a gem in his last outing on August 5 against Seattle, but even nine innings of shutout baseball was not enough to earn him another win. Even as Weaver allowed seven hits and walked one, while striking out eight, his personal record failed to reflect the team's 1-0 win at home.

As for the Blue Jays, they plan on countering with Ricky Romero who has won three straight outings. Romero last pitched on Sunday when he permitted just two runs on four hits -- two home runs -- while striking out five over eight innings of action in a 7-2 win versus Baltimore on the road.

Romero, who is getting his first look at the Angels this season, has a career mark of 2-2 with a 3.76 ERA in four previous appearances against the squad.

For the Angels, currently two games behind the Texas Rangers for first place in the American League West, they are batting just .250 through 119 games this season, a far cry from two years ago when they led the majors with a .285 average for the entire campaign. Nevertheless, the team is staying current by having the top ERA in the AL at the moment, a mark of 3.38 which again has a lot to do with the efforts of Weaver.

Toronto, which is now even on the season at 59-59 and 29-29 at home, is 14 1/2 games off the pace set by the Boston Red Sox in the American League East with approximately one quarter of the campaign remaining.

The Angels took two of three from the Jays back in early April.