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Angels-Yankees Preview

May 1, 2009 - 3:38 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Los Angeles (9-11) at New York (11-10), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The New York Yankees' offense appears to be coming together.

The Yankees look to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games Friday night when they continue a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.

New York (12-10) has scored 26 runs during its run for its highest three-game total this season. The Yankees hare batting .308 with five doubles, five homers and 19 walks in this stretch.

They extended their win streak at home to four with a 7-4 victory Thursday to begin this series. Melky Cabrera had a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning and Ramiro Pena added a two-run double as the Yankees completed their first winning April in three seasons.

Cabrera went 2-for-4 for his fourth multihit effort in his last eight games. He is batting .344 (11-for-32) in that span with five RBIs after being beaten out by Brent Gardner in spring training as the club's starting center fielder.

"I watched his effort in spring training, and I watched his work ethic right after I told him he wasn't going to be the center fielder. And he told me, 'I'll be ready to play any time,'" Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

New York also continues to get major production from Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher. Cano has a 17-game hitting streak and is batting a team-high .366 while Swisher is 5-for-10 with three homers, five RBIs and seven runs scored in his last three games.

It's been a different story for slugger Mark Teixeira, who signed a $180 million, eight-year deal in the offseason after batting .358 with 43 RBIs in 54 games to help Los Angeles (9-12) win the AL West last season after he was acquired at the trade deadline. Teixeira went 1-for-4 on Thursday and finished the month with 10 RBIs.

"I'm just not getting it done right now," he said.

The Angels had a three-game winning streak snapped and will give Jered Weaver (2-1, 2.45 ERA) the ball Friday. Weaver turned in his best outing of the season Sunday when he gave up three hits in seven innings in an 8-0 victory over Seattle.

Los Angeles may choose to start Jeff Mathis behind the plate with Weaver on the mound. Mathis has caught Weaver three times this year, and the starter hasn't allowed an earned run in two of them.

"It was one of those games where we were on the same page," Weaver said Sunday. "It's a pretty comfortable feeling out there when you're together like that."

The right-hander is 3-1 with a 6.14 ERA in four career outings versus New York. The Angels have scored a total of 27 runs in those games.

Andy Pettitte (2-1, 2.96) will counter for New York after he gave up four runs over six innings Sunday in a 4-1 loss at Boston. He issued four walks after walking only two in his first three outings.

The veteran left-hander has enjoyed plenty of success when facing Angels regulars Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu. Hunter is 6-for-28 (.214) with 11 strikeouts versus Pettitte and Abreu is 2-for-13 (.154) with four strikeouts.