Los Angeles @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 22, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 3, LA Angels 6
The Los Angeles Angels and Howie Kendrick continued their recent dominance over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
The Angels recorded their fourth straight win this season over the Dodgers and 17th in the last 24 meetings.
Second baseman Kendrick continued to terrorize the team’s freeway rivals, collecting three hits to raise his career average against the Dodgers to .404.
One of Kendrick’s hits was a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning of the Angels’ 6-3 victory in the opener of the three-game series in Anaheim.
Kendrick has been unstoppable in four games against the Dodgers this season. He has 10 hits in 18 at-bats, a .556 batting average, with two three-hit games and a pair of two-hit games.
Building on a hot performance over the weekend against the Chicago Cubs, Kendrick is 8-for-18 (.444) with six RBIs over the last four games.
Kendrick has 47 RBIs on the season, just 14 shy of his career-best total set last season. His batting average currently stands at .280.
Kendrick and the Angels hope to continue their success against the Dodgers on Wednesday when they face John Ely for the second time this season. The Dodgers have lost five consecutive games while the Angels have won seven of their last 10.
Kendrick went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI against Ely on June 12 at Dodger Stadium.
Ely will be looking to end a slump – he is 0-3 in five starts since notching his last victory on May 22. He has allowed 15 earned runs, 23 hits and eight walks in 14 2/3 innings over his last three outings.
Overall, Ely is 3-4 with a 4.15 ERA.
Hot-pitching Joel Pineiro starts for the Angels. He has won three consecutive decisions, including a complete-game five-hitter in a 10-1 victory over the Dodgers on June 11.
Pineiro (6-6) struck out seven and walked one in the victory against the Dodgers. He also was solid in his last outing against Milwaukee, holding the Brewers to one run and three hits in eight innings.
Pineiro, who has a 4.45 earned-run average this season, has never lost to the Dodgers. He is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA in four career starts against them.
Slump-ridden Dodgers Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp showed signs of life Tuesday after recent struggles.
Ethier went four consecutive games (0-for-16) without a hit before going 2-for-5. He was hitting .392 in mid-May when he went on the disabled list with a finger injury. Tuesday’s two-hit game raised his average to .320.
Kemp was only 1-for-4 but the hit was his first homer run since June 1. Kemp has seen his batting average fall 27 points this month to .258.
Ethier and Kemp have had little or no success against Pineiro. Ethier is 0-for-10 lifetime while Kemp is 2-for-14 (.143) against the right-hander.
Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez is on the opposite side of the coin. He’s batting .378 (14-for-37) with four homers against Pineiro.