Los Angeles @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 3, 2013 ) LA Angels 4, Cincinnati 5

Little has separated the Angels and the Reds through the first two games as 2013's first interleague series concludes with Thursday afternoon's rubber match in Cincinnati. Los Angeles won Monday's season opener in 13 innings before the Reds scored in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday to even the series. Los Angeles desperately needs the meat of its order to get untracked. Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton are a combined 0-for-15 with five strikeouts. The Angels could also use more offense from last season’s AL Rookie of the Year, Mike Trout, who is 2-for-11 with four strikeouts and no stolen bases in the lead-off role.

The Reds moved second baseman Brandon Phillips into the cleanup spot after left fielder Ryan Ludwick suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder during Monday’s season opener and will be sidelined approximately three months. Phillips played the part in Wednesday’s victory, slamming a three-run homer in the fourth. Phillips isn’t a prototypical No. 4 hitter, totaling 18 home runs in each of the last three seasons, but should provide ample protection for the team’s best hitter, first baseman Joey Votto.

TV: 12:35 p.m. ET, MLB Network, Fox Sports West (Los Angeles), Fox Sports Ohio (Cincinnati)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Joe Blanton (2012: 10-13, 4.71) vs. Reds RH Bronson Arroyo (12-10, 3.74 ERA)

Blanton owns a 4.37 career ERA but hasn’t finished under that mark since 2009, when he helped the Phillies to the World Series. He had a promising preseason after signing a two-year, $15-million deal with the Angels in December, joining his third team in the last two seasons. He finished with a 2.37 ERA after pitching six scoreless innings in his final tune up Thursday against the Dodgers, the team he finished with last season. Blanton beat the Reds in September, allowing four hits and a run in 5 2/3 innings. Arroyo also started that game and drove in the only run with a fifth-inning single.

Arroyo hopes to pick up where he left off last season, when he blanked the eventual World Series Champion San Francisco Giants on one hit over seven innings in a 9-0 victory in Game 2 of National League Division Series. Unfortunately, the Reds dropped the next three games and Arroyo never earned another start. He completed the spring with a 3.13 ERA in 23 innings, striking out six and walking two. Arroyo has been dinged by the long ball in his career, giving up a home run once every 7.36 innings, but has kept it in the ballpark against the Dodgers, getting touched for a round-tripper once every 15.11 innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Angels RP Ryan Madson threw 15 pitches in the bullpen Wednesday in his attempt to return from Tommy John surgery last April. Madson, who last pitched for the Phillies in 2011, threw 40 pitches a week earlier with no setbacks.

2. Pujols faced Arroyo several times when he was in the National League with the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s hitting .274 with four home runs and 15 RBIs in 73 at-bats and also walked 13 times against Arroyo.

3. Angels SS Eric Aybar, who committed 15 errors in 139 games last year, has two this season.

PREDICTION: Reds 5, Angels 4