Toronto @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( May 26, 2010 ) Toronto 5, LA Angels 6

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have seen the best and worst of Scott Kazmir over his last two starts.

The Angels would undoubtedly like to see the effective version Friday night as they open a three-game home series with the Toronto Blue Jays. Los Angeles has dominated the season series so far, winning five of six meetings.

To make it six of seven, the Angels will likely need Kazmir (8-9) to be at or near his best. The 26-year-old left-hander has been mostly dreadful this season, sporting a 6.57 ERA while allowing 50 walks in just 97 1/3 innings.

Kazmir looked to be back on track in June, winning four straight starts while allowing two runs or fewer in all of them. That came to a screeching halt over his next four outings, as he surrendered 30 runs in just 19 2/3 innings over that stretch.

The lowlight came July 10 against the Oakland Athletics, when Kazmir was torched for 13 runs – the most an Angels pitcher has ever allowed – over just five innings of a 15-1 defeat. It was the worst pounding a starting pitcher had taken since 2006, when Jason Marquis of the St. Louis Cardinals allowed 13 runs to the Chicago White Sox.

Kazmir was immediately placed on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder fatigue, and missed nearly a month of action. He returned with vigor, allowing just an unearned run on three hits over five innings in a 10-1 win over the Detroit Tigers six days ago.

Kazmir has fared well against the Blue Jays in his career, going 4-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 14 starts. He last faced them Aug. 26 of last season, and held them to a run on four hits over six innings. He added 10 strikeouts, but settled for a no-decision in a game Toronto won 3-2.

The Angels are coming off an impressive sweep of the Kansas City Royals, and have won five of their last six games. Despite the recent hot streak, Los Angeles remains 7 1/2 games back of the Texas Rangers in the American League West race, and nine games back of Tampa Bay for the AL wild card.

The Angels face a Toronto team that narrowly avoided a sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. The Jays needed a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday to earn a 6-5 victory, just their third in 12 meetings with Boston this season.

Hard-throwing left-hander Mark Rzepczynski (0-1) gets the call for Toronto in Friday's series opener. The 24-year-old was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to start in place of Brandon Morrow, whose next start was pushed back after he threw 137 pitches in a complete-game one-hit victory over Tampa last weekend.

Rzepczynski hasn't pitched for Toronto since July 21, when he was tagged for five runs on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings in a 5-2 loss to the Royals. His last major-league victory came in his only career start against the Angels, when he surrendered one run over 6 1/3 innings of a 5-4 triumph last Aug. 21.