SoCal MLB Preview

LA Angels (67-40) at NY Yankees (59-48), 4:05 p.m.

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim put all of baseball on notice with the acquisition of first baseman Mark Teixeira. One day later, the New York Yankees made a statement of their own, replacing the injured Jorge Posada with another potential Hall of Fame-caliber catcher in Ivan Rodriguez. The Yankees expect Rodriguez to make his debut on Thursday when they host the first game of a four-game set with the Angels. New York reacted quickly after Posada's season-ending shoulder surgery, trading reliever Kyle Farnsworth to Detroit in exchange for the 14-time All-Star backstop. "(Rodriguez) is a significant upgrade with all due respect to who we got," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "How it works out all remains to be seen, but he's having a good year and we're excited to have the opportunity to believe that we addressed an important area of need." The Yankees fared quite well without Rodriguez in the lineup on Wednesday, avoiding a three-game sweep with a 13-3 rout of Baltimore. They'll look for a repeat against Jon Garland (9-6, 4.30 ERA), who overcame a poor outing in Saturday's 11-6 victory over Baltimore to get the win despite surrendering five runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. Anaheim dealt first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Steve Marek to Atlanta to acquire Teixeira, who made his debut in Wednesday's 9-2 three-game series-sweeping win over the Red Sox. Teixeira drew a walk but went hitless in four at-bats, but it did not matter as the Angels won for the 10th time in 12 games after the All-Star break. "I'm very excited," Teixeira said. "If you ever get traded, you want to get traded to a team that has a chance to win it all. This is a great team here - great pitching, great defense and timely hitting. This team knows how to win and I'm happy to be a part of it." Andy Pettitte (12-7, 3.76) will be the latest pitcher trying to derail an Angels offense that has scored 80 runs since the break, something he may able to do if he can emulate his last two outings. After holding Oakland to one run and striking out nine on July 20, the lefthander yielded three runs - one earned - and five hits with seven strikeouts in the Yankees' 10-3 over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

Arizona (55-52) at LA Dodgers (54-53), 7:10 p.m.

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers have a chance to pull even atop the National League West Division on Thursday when they open a crucial four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers managed to get back above .500 for the first time since May 27 on Wednesday, claiming a 4-0 victory against the San Francisco Giants as Chad Billingsley earned his first career shutout. The win was the ninth in the last 13 games for Los Angeles, which has held opponents scoreless in four of five contests. The Dodgers have a good chance of continuing their success against the Diamondbacks, who own one of the worst offenses in baseball. Despite holding a one-game lead in the NL West, Arizona ranks near the bottom of the NL in a number of offensive categories, including batting average (13th), home runs (12th) and runs (ninth). But, the Diamondbacks have won five of their last six, outscoring the opposition 37-18 over that span. Staff ace Brandon Webb looks to keep Arizona atop the division. Webb (14-4, 3.14 ERA), who is tied with three others for the major league-lead in wins, earned his third straight victory on Saturday. The 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner surrendered three runs and four hits in seven innings, walking two and striking out eight en route to a 5-3 victory over the Giants. Derek Lowe (8-8, 3.74) goes for his fourth consecutive win for the Dodgers. Lowe enters the game after his best start, eight scoreless innings, yielding one hit and one walk while striking out four during Saturday's 6-0 victory against the Washington Nationals.