SoCal MLB Preview

LA Angels (54-36) at Texas (47-44), 5:05 pm

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- The Texas Rangers likely knew coming into the season their pitching would be a question. Never could they have expected to be in a situation like this, however. Michael Ballard will become the second Rangers' pitcher to make his major league debut in as many days when the club continues its four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Texas, which is last in the American League with a staff ERA of 5.00, will turn to its 12th different starting pitcher this season on Wednesday. No other team has sent that many starters to the mound this year. Some of that turnover has been created because the team was forced to place Vicente Padilla (neck, thumb), Kason Gabbard (elbow) and Eric Hurley (hamstring) on the disabled list. Ballard has spent all season with Class AA Frisco, where he was 8-3 with a 3.97 ERA in 15 starts. No team has seen a pair of starters make their debut in back-to-back starts since the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002. Texas would be quite happy if Ballard could repeat the effort of Matt Harrison, who allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Angels. He'll have his hands full against Jered Weaver (8-8, 4.17 ERA), who has been particularly sharp over his last three outings - allowing two runs or less in each start. In Friday's 8-2 victory over Toronto, the righthander collected a win after yielding two runs and six hits with six strikeouts over 7.1 innings.

Atlanta (43-48) at LA Dodgers (44-46), 7:10 pm

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Brian McCann attempts to follow up his first multi-homer game in nearly a year on Wednesday as the Atlanta Braves meet the Los Angeles Dodgers in the rubber match of their three-game set. Atlanta, which narrowly avoided a perfect game by Hiroki Kuroda on Monday, was held hitless through four innings on Tuesday by Chad Billingsley. Another slow start figured to spell doom for the Braves, who had scored eight total runs over their last six losses. However, a three-run double in the fifth by Yunel Escobar broke open a scoreless tie before McCann hit the first of two solo homers for his first multi-homer game since July 13, 2007. Tim Hudson (9-6, 3.19 ERA) hopes McCann and the Braves can repeat the offensive display when he takes the mound in the series finale. The righthander yielded just one run and four hits over seven frames in Friday's 6-2 win over Houston, striking out six to win for the second time in three outings. The Dodgers, who will be chasing their fourth straight series win, will counter with Derek Lowe (6-8, 4.02). In Friday's 10-7 win in San Francisco, the sinkerballer surrendered five runs - four earned - and eight hits over five innings.