Santana returns to face Orioles

Baseball Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have been able to rebound from a rough beginning to the season. The team is hoping one of its most talented pitchers will be able to do the same in tonight's matchup with the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium.

Ervin Santana won a career-high 16 games for the Angels and ranked second in the American League with 214 strikeouts a year ago, earning a spot on the AL All-Star team in the process. The hard-throwing right-hander hasn't been able to achieve the same success so far during an injury-plagued 2009 campaign, however.

Santana has made just six starts for Anaheim this season due to recurring arm issues and has gone 1-3 with a subpar 7.47 earned run average during those games. Opponents are batting a robust .344 off him for the year.

The 26-year-old was placed on the disabled list for the second time this season after being tagged for six runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings of a June 11 loss at Tampa Bay. He appeared quite healthy, however, in a rehab start for the Angels' Rookie League team this past Sunday, when Santana struck out seven over a 3 1/3 scoreless-inning stint.

Santana will be facing the Orioles for the eighth time in his career and owns a 2-2 record with a 4.60 ERA lifetime against Baltimore.

He'll be attempting to pitch the American League West-leading Angels to an eighth victory in 10 games this evening. In Thursday's opener of this four- game set, Bobby Abreu bashed a pair of home runs and John Lackey delivered eight strong innings in Anaheim's 5-2 triumph over Baltimore.

Abreu knocked in four of the Angels' five runs in the game, with Chone Figgins driving home the other with an RBI single en route to a 3-for-4 performance at the plate.

Lackey (3-3) did his part as well, limiting the Orioles to a pair of runs and just four hits while striking out seven. Brian Fuentes closed things out in the ninth to notch his major league-best 23rd save of the year.

"I established the fastball pretty good tonight," said Lackey. "I mixed my pitches well and located my fastball."

Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (6-8) was saddled with the loss after surrendering five runs on nine hits over seven innings of work.

The Orioles, who have now dropped four of their last five contests, received a solo home run from Luke Scott and an RBI single by Matt Wieters on the evening.

Anaheim has gone 14-5 since June 12 and presently holds a one-game edge on Texas for first place in the AL West standings.

The red-hot Angels will get their first look tonight at Baltimore rookie David Hernandez, with the young right-hander set to make his fourth start and fifth overall appearance in the majors.

Hernandez is 1-2 with a 4.19 ERA over a span of 19 1/3 innings during his brief time at the big-league level. The 24-year-old was recently recalled from the minors to fill in for injured starter Koji Uehara and allowed three runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 frames in a loss to Washington this past Sunday.

The California native had started twice and pitched once in relief with the Orioles before being sent down in early June, and earned his first major- league win on May 28 by holding Detroit to one run through 5 2/3 innings.

The Angels swept a two-game series from the Orioles at Camden Yards back in April and went 6-3 against Baltimore last season. The O's are just 4-13 in Anaheim since the start of the 2006 campaign.