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Angels-Rangers Preview

May 16, 2009 - 4:51 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Los Angeles (18-15) at Texas (20-14), 4:10 p.m. EDT

Coming off only their third loss in 12 games, the Los Angeles Angels hope to get a big boost with the expected return of ace John Lackey.

The All-Star right-hander is scheduled to make his season debut Saturday when the Angels face the AL West-leading Texas Rangers in the middle game of their series.

Lackey is expected to be activated from the disabled list prior to Saturday's contest after right elbow inflammation forced him to miss the first six weeks of the season. This is the second consecutive season an injury sidelined him until mid-May.

Limited to 24 starts in 2008 due to a right triceps strain, Lackey went 12-5 with a 3.75 ERA and helped the Angels (18-16) to their fourth AL West title in five years.

Now, he'll try to help second-place Los Angeles rebound from Friday's 10-8 loss to the surprising Rangers (21-14).

Lackey, though, is 5-5 with a 6.00 ERA in 14 career starts at Texas. However, his last three starts there have all led to wins for the Angels, while he's gone 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA.

He'll also have to contend with a powerful Rangers lineup that leads the majors with 62 homers and a .500 slugging percentage while ranking near the top with a .279 batting average and 201 runs.

Texas hit four home runs Friday with Ian Kinsler connecting for two and Josh Hamilton and Andruw Jones collecting one each.

Kinsler and Hamilton have also had success against Lackey. Kinsler is 6 for 15 with two homers, while Hamilton is 4 for 13 with three homers.

The Angels, meanwhile, are getting solid production from Erick Aybar, who is 8 for 18 over his last five games. The shortstop had three hits with a homer and two RBIs on Friday but Los Angeles' comeback from a seven-run, ninth-inning deficit fell short.

Aybar, who has a .321 batting average after hitting a career-high .277 last year, has thrived at Rangers Ballpark, going 10 for 19 in the last four games there.

The Rangers hope Vicente Padilla (2-2, 4.97) can carry some momentum from his last two starts back home.

The right-hander was outstanding Sunday, yielding one run and one hit in seven innings of a 7-1 road win over the Chicago White Sox. That came five days after he limited Seattle to one run and one hit through eight innings in Texas' 7-2, 10-inning victory.

"I think about three starts ago there were questions about his velocity," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "The thing about Padilla, you don't know if that's by design. He can pitch, he can manipulate the baseball. He can do some good things. It just took him a little while to get going.

"Now he's going and I certainly hope he stays healthy and continues to make starts for us."

Padilla, however, hasn't come close to that type of production in four home outings, going 1-2 with an 8.10 ERA. He's also hit three batters in that span, and his five hit batsmen this season rank him third in the AL.

Padilla is 2-3 with a 5.79 ERA in his last six starts against the Angels.