SoCal MLB Preview

LA Angels (45-30) at Philadelphia (42-34), 10:35 am

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Ace Cole Hamels takes the hill looking to put an end to the Philadelphia Phillies' season-high four-game losing streak on Sunday in the finale of a three-game interleague series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Vladimir Guerrero blasted a pair of home runs and former Phillies' draft pick Joe Saunders threw seven strong innings to lead the Angels to a 6-2 victory on Saturday. Anaheim's solid pitching staff has stifled Philadelphia's prolific offense. The Phillies, who are third in baseball with 394 runs, have been outscored, 13-3, in dropping the first two games of the series. Part of the reason is the horrible rut that Chase Utley is stuck in. The slugging second baseman is second in baseball with 22 home runs, but is mired in a 0-for-23 slump and was given the day off Saturday. Utley's possible return combined with Hamels being on the hill figures to be a good recipe for success. Hamels (7-4, 3.23 ERA) is seeking his third straight win. The lefthander is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in his last three starts. The Angels, who have won 12 of their last 18 contests, send Jered Weaver (6-7, 4.73) to the hill. Weaver was rocked for six runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 9-6 loss to the New York Mets on Monday

Cleveland (35-40) at LA Dodgers (34-40), 1:10 pm

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers look to avoid a second consecutive interleague sweep on Sunday when they host the Cleveland Indians. Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who won four World Series titles in 12 seasons with the New York Yankees, probably has seen enough of the Indians. Cleveland ended Torre's tenure in the Bronx with a four-game victory over the Yankees in the American League Division Series last year. Despite Torre's move across the country, little has changed as the Indians have collected a pair of 11-inning wins against the Dodgers, who have dropped six straight in interleague play. Los Angeles hopes to end the slide behind righthander Chad Billingsley (5-7, 3.54 ERA), an Ohio native who is coming off an impressive outing. Selected by Los Angeles in the first round out of Defiance High School in 2003, Billingsley yielded just one run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings in Tuesday's 3-1 victory over Cincinnati. Cleveland counters with Paul Byrd (3-7, 5.21), who would like to forget his last outing. The righthander surrendered five runs and nine hits over four innings in Tuesday's 10-2 setback to Colorado.