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Angels, A's play rubber match at Coliseum

May 23, 2012 - 3:31 PM (Sports Network) - If Athletics rookie Jarrod Parker needs any help with bouncing back from the worst start of his young career, studying Jered Weaver's most recent effort for the Angels would be a good place to start.

Parker looks to rebound this afternoon for Oakland against Weaver and Los Angeles in the rubber match of a three-game series.

The right-handed Parker made his first career major league start last season with Arizona on Sept. 27, hurling 5 2/3 scoreless innings without a decision. After an offseason trade to Oakland, he began his A's career 1-1 through four starts with a 2.10 earned run average, not allowing more than two earned runs in any outing.

That all changed for Parker on Friday in San Francisco as he was charged with six runs on four hits and four walks over two-plus innings of a setback, his second straight and second of his career. His ERA jumped to 3.90 with the poor effort.

"I don't know, just a little off today," said Parker on Oakland's official website. "I fought myself today, and obviously the results weren't what I wanted, so you just move on and forget about it. It was one of those snowball effects. Obviously they worked me a bit and the pitch count was up, and a couple hits here and there, I just couldn't get things turned around quick enough."

Parker has never faced the Angels, who turn to their ace in Weaver.

The right-hander suffered his first loss of the season on May 13 and it was a bad one as he allowed eight runs over just 3 1/3 frames in a loss at Texas.

Weaver, though, allowed two runs or less for the sixth time in his nine starts on Friday as he limited the Padres to a pair of runs on three hits and three walks over seven frames of a 7-2 win. The 29-year-old moved to 6-1 with a 2.80 ERA on the season.

"We were able to break through there later in the game and had some good offense going tonight," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "Jered had some strong innings for us and was able to get out of jams."

Weaver beat Oakland on April 16 with 6 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering five hits and striking out six to even his career record in this series at 7-7 with a 2.71 ERA in 21 starts.

The Angels saw their high-priced duo of C.J. Wilson and Albert Pujols key a 5-0 victory on Tuesday.

Both were signed as free agents this past offseason and though Pujols has struggled for most of the season, he launched a solo homer and drove in two runs on Tuesday. He has 16 runs batted in during May after driving in only four runs the previous month.

Wilson, meanwhile, stole the show by allowing just one hit over eight scoreless innings, logging seven strikeouts and throwing 75 of his 125 pitches for strikes. Ernesto Frieri closed out the shutout in the ninth.

"I just tried to stay within myself and tried to stay ahead of the hitters," Wilson said.

Mark Trumbo and Howie Kendrick each had an RBI single and Erick Aybar also added an RBI for the Angels, who snapped a three-game skid.

Cliff Pennington had Oakland's only hit of the contest -- a base hit over the glove of Kendrick at second in the fifth inning -- as the Athletics had their two-game winning streak halted while getting shut out for the third time in eight games.

"When a guy's throwing the ball well and some guys hit balls hard that don't find holes, he can get into a rhythm," Pennington said of Wilson's outing. "Once he did that it was tough for us."

Graham Godfrey, who was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento prior to the game, allowed four runs on six hits and three walks in just three innings to take the loss.

The A's have won five of eight so far over the Angels this season, making them 16-9 over the past 25 in this series. That includes a victory in seven of 11 at home over the Angels.