Boston @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 9, 2013 ) LA Angels 5, Boston 10

Two of the hottest teams in baseball square off Friday when the Boston Red Sox visit the Los Angeles Angels for the start of a three-game series. The Angels have started to turn their season around by taking eight of their last nine and are coming off a dramatic victory. The Red Sox have won eight of their last nine as well and own the most wins in the majors with 53.

Los Angeles pulled back to within three games of .500 when Josh Hamilton clubbed a two-run tying homer in the bottom of the ninth and Erick Aybar provided a walk-off single in a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. Hamilton has hit safely in the last nine games but had not homered since June 17 before going deep to straightaway center. Boston leads the majors in runs and its pitchers have yielded a total of four runs in the last three games as they prepare for Hamilton and company.

TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), Fox Sports West (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Felix Doubront (4-3, 4.22 ERA) vs. Angels LH C.J. Wilson (8-5, 3.63)

Doubront bounced back from briefly losing his rotation spot in May by going 1-1 with a 2.75 ERA in six June starts. The Venezuelan left-hander has not been able to complete seven innings in either of his last two starts, however, and has gotten a no-decision in his last four turns. Doubront’s last loss came in the opener of a doubleheader against Los Angeles on June 8, when he was reached for three runs on six hits in six innings.

Wilson has earned four straight wins and is coming off a seven-inning effort at Houston in which he allowed an unearned run on three hits and struck out 10. The veteran lefty’s last loss came in the second game of that doubleheader at Boston on June 8, when he yielded four runs (three earned) on eight hits in five innings. Wilson has been better against the Red Sox in the past and owns a 5-2 record with a 2.85 ERA against them in 20 career games (eight starts).

WALK-OFFS

1. Boston CF Jacoby Ellsbury is batting .424 during his 14-game hitting streak.

2. Los Angeles swept a three-game series at home against the Red Sox last season but dropped two of three in Boston last month.

3. Angels 1B Albert Pujols is 3-for-31 over his last eight games.

PREDICTION: Red Sox 4, Angels 3