SoCal MLB Preview

LA Angels (63-39) at Baltimore (48-54), 4:05 pm

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim keep rolling while the Baltimore Orioles' surprising first half success has caught up to them. The Angels, who own the best record in the majors, take on the struggling Orioles on Saturday with hopes of winning their seventh game in eight tries during the second half. Juan Rivera and Casey Kotchman homered to lead the Angels to a 6-5 victory on Friday, but it wasn't easy. All-Star Joe Saunders threw well until he hit a wall in the seventh and closer Francisco Rodriguez nearly failed to notch his 43rd save. The Orioles lost their fourth game in a row and have fallen into the American League East Division's basement by 3 1/2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Jon Garland (8-6, 4.12 ERA) will take the mound for Anaheim with his sights set on improving to 4-0 in seven starts against AL East opponents. Garland is coming off a no-decision against the Boston Red Sox in which he surrendered three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Baltimore will counter with Radhames Liz (4-2, 7.19), who beat the Blue Jays on Monday and will try to erase an awful outing on Friday by starter Brian Burres. Burres recorded five outs in a 6-5 loss to the Angels, a decision that marked the fifth time in his last 11 starts that he's allowed at least two home runs. The southpaw's ERA has gone up by more than two runs (from 3.16 to 5.37) over that span, and he's logged an ERA over 6.00 in each of the last two months (7.20 in June and 6.75 thus far through July). Burres also marked the seventh straight outing that an Oriole starter has been pulled before completing six innings. Melvin Mora hopes to get back on his his recent tear. Mora was 9-for-17 over four games before going 0-for-4 on Friday.

Washington (38-65) at Los Angeles (50-52), 7:10 p.m.

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers rotation has had no trouble against one of the worst offenses in the majors. The Dodgers look to continue that trend on Saturday when they resume their home series against the Washington Nationals. Chad Billingsley allowed just two runs in 7 2/3 innings on Friday, helping the Dodgers claim a 3-2 victory over the Nationals and lower the team's National League-leading ERA to 3.79 this season. Billingsley had no problem shutting down the Nationals lowly offense, which ranks last in the majors this campaign with 388 runs and a dismal .243 batting average. Derek Lowe (7-8, 3.97 ERA) tries to keep Washington in check and help Los Angeles claim its eighth straight home victory against the Nationals when he takes the mound on Saturday. Lowe, who has won all four career starts against Washington, has won each of his last two decisions but allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings on Sunday. The veteran righthander walked three and struck out six, but did not factor in the decision during a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Odalis Perez (3-7, 3.99) faces his former team when he counters for the Nationals. Perez, who was a member of the Dodgers for parts of five seasons beginning in 2002, snapped a personal three-game losing streak despite surrendering five runs and nine hits in five innings during Washington's 15-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.