SoCal MLB AL Preview

Kansas City (9-6) at LA Angels (9-7), 7:05 pm

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) - Jon Garland and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hope to halt a six-game losing streak against the Kansas City Royals when the teams meet in the finale of their two-game series on Thursday. Kansas City received early RBI singles from Alex Gordon and Billy Butler on Wednesday on its way to a 3-2 win in the opener, defeating Anaheim in the teams' first meeting of the season. Last season, the Royals took five straight contests after the Angels won the first two.

However, Kansas City will face the ultimate test to their recent dominance over Anaheim, which will sent Garland (1-2, 5.50 ERA) to the mound. The righthander, who came over in an offseason trade from the Chicago White Sox, is 16-6 with a 3.54 ERA in 30 career starts and three relief appearances against the Royals. In the Royals' favor is that Garland hasn't been all that sharp yet with his new team. He took his second consecutive loss in Saturday's 8-3 loss in which he surrendered six runs - three earned - and 12 hits over five innings.

Kansas City will answer with Brett Tomko (1-1, 2.08), who will make his third start of the season for the Royals. The journeyman righthander has been fairly sharp so far, not allowing any more than two runs in his three appearances. Tomko took the hard-luck loss in his last turn though, yielding two runs and six hits over six frames in a 2-0 loss to Minnesota on Saturday.