Los Angeles @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 18, 2010 ) LA Angels 3, Tampa Bay 4

Just when things were looking up for Brandon Wood, his season took another disappointing turn.

Wood will look to rebound after costing his team a potential victory as the Los Angeles Angels face the Tampa Bay Rays in the rubber match of their three-game series at Tropicana Field. The Angels earned a 4-3 victory in Friday's opener, then fell 4-3 in 10 innings the following night.

Wood was the focal point of both games, for better or worse.

It was his solo home run Friday night that led the Angels to victory, snapping a 4-for-43 slump that had dropped his average to a dreadful .152. It was one of the lone bright spots of the season for Wood, who was once considered a can't-miss prospect but is hitting just .176 with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs over 421 career at-bats.

Things returned to normal for Wood on Saturday. The Rays rallied to tie the game in the ninth inning and won it in the 10th when Wood's errant throw skipped past first baseman Mike Napoli, allowing Jason Bartlett to cross home plate with the winning run. It was Wood's ninth error of the season.

The victory was a critical one for the Rays, who remained a half-game back of the New York Yankees in the race for the top spot in the American League East. Once Tampa is finished with the Angels and the Yankees wrap up their series against Baltimore, the division powerhouses will face off in a four-game series that could go a long way in determining which team finishes atop the division, and which one settles for the wild card.

Sunday's matchup features a pair of pitchers who could use a strong outing to make up for a particularly dismal stretch.

Tampa Bay sends Jeff Niemann (10-6) to the hill. The 27-year-old is 0-3 in four starts since returning from the disabled list after missing three weeks with a shoulder strain in August.

Niemann is battling with Wade Davis for the fourth spot in the Rays' playoff rotation, and will need to be better over his final three regular-season starts if he wants to remain in the mix. The 6-foot-9 right-hander has surrendered 26 earned runs over his last 15 innings, and has an unsightly 8.92 ERA in the second half after posting a 2.77 ERA before the All-Star break.

Niemann was better in his previous outing allowing three runs on just two hits over five innings in a no-decision against the Toronto Blue Jays. He's 1-1 all-time against Los Angeles with a 9.15 ERA over 19 2/3 innings, including a horrid outing in which he was torched for 10 runs over just 3 1/3 frames in a 12-3 loss Aug. 25.

The Angels counter with struggling lefty Scott Kazmir (8-14). Kazmir has just one victory since June 24, going 1-9 over that span since putting together a four-game winning streak.

The 26-year-old has been his usual wild self this year, issuing 74 walks over 136 2/3 innings so far. Yet, while he could rely on a healthy dose of strikeouts in the past, he has just 87 Ks this season, well below his usual rate.

Kazmir allowed four runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings in his last outing, a 4-3 loss to Cleveland that extended his current personal losing streak to five games. He's 0-2 with a 5.23 ERA in two starts all-time against Tampa Bay, which dealt him to the Angels last season.