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Angels take their swings at Oakland's Milone

May 21, 2012 - 3:44 PM (Sports Network) - The Angels are one of the lower scoring teams in the American League. Their bats could be in for a frustrating night against Athletics starter Tommy Milone, who has been dominating at home this season.

Milone gets the call for Oakland tonight in the first of three straight games against rival Los Angeles.

The left-handed Milone is a perfect 3-0 in three starts at home this season with an MLB-leading earned run average of 0.39. He has allowed two runs -- one earned -- in 23 innings over that time with 11 strikeouts.

Milone's road ERA stands at 7.16 however after he failed to secure a third straight victory on Wednesday with a 4-1 loss in Texas. The 25-year-old allowed four runs on nine hits over seven innings and has a 6.46 ERA over his last four outings overall despite a 2-2 record.

"I felt like I went out there, threw strikes and was pounding the zone," said Milone, who is 5-3 with a 4.09 ERA in eight overall starts this season. "They're just a good-hitting team. They put the ball in play and made things happen."

Milone faced the Angels for the first time in his career on April 19, picking up a road win while lasting five innings and allowing two runs in a 4-2 victory.

The Angels are tied for 11th in the AL with 78 runs scored in 21 road games. They pounded out seven runs in Friday's series-opening win over the Padres, but plated just four runs in losing the next two. That includes Sunday's 3-2 loss at San Diego in 13 innings.

Mark Trumbo had an RBI double and Mike Trout hit a solo homer in the fifth inning for the Angels, who have lost three of four. Starter Ervin Santana went six innings and allowed two runs on six hits.

"There's no quit in (these guys), they play hard," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of his team. "Unfortunately we didn't get it done at the times leading up to extra innings to try and win the game."

Los Angeles' outfield also took a hard hit in Sunday's loss. Already without Torii Hunter due to personal reasons, both Vernon Wells (right thumb) and Ryan Langerhans (right shoulder) left the game and could land on the disabled list.

So, the Angels will need Jerome Williams to continue his excellent start on the mound this season tonight. He is 4-1 with a 3.86 ERA in seven games (6 starts) and hasn't lost since his first outing of the season on April 15.

The right-hander is coming off one of his better starts as he danced around 10 hits to hold the White Sox to two runs over eight innings of a 7-2 win on Wednesday. It was Williams' longest outing since his three-hit shutout of the Twins on May 1.

"I felt good and I was throwing the ball where I needed to," said Williams. "I just want to go out there and pitch well. When we score, I just try to go back out there and throw up a zero."

Williams, 30, will face the A's for the first time this season and is 3-1 against them in five starts with a 3.30 ERA.

Oakland will try to put a dent in those numbers tonight after snapping an 11- game losing streak in San Francisco with Sunday's 6-2 win.

Bartolo Colon won for the first time in six starts with five innings of two- run ball, while Josh Reddick hit a two-run homer. Oakland had lost four of five coming in overall, but won at San Francisco for the first time since June 15, 2008 by scoring four runs off Giants starter Tim Lincecum.

"It was good to put a couple up on him and fortunately we came away with the win as well. We needed that," Athletics center fielder Collin Cowgill said.

The A's and Angels have met six times prior this season -- all in Anaheim -- and Oakland won four of those encounters. They are 15-8 in the past 23 meetings, winning six of nine at home in that time.