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Santana, Park square off in Freeway Series

Posted: Sat May 17 11:06 AM

(Sports Network) - Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders have been a solid 1-2 punch for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim all season long. Saunders did his part in his club's series opener with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, and Santana gets his turn in game two of the Freeway Series this afternoon at Angel Stadium.

Saunders (7-1) pitched 7 1/3 strong innings in Friday's 4-2 victory, holding the Dodgers to two runs on five hits as the Angels snapped a two-game losing streak. Francisco Rodriguez worked a scoreless ninth for the league-leading 17th save.

Santana, meanwhile, can become just the third pitcher in club history to start a season 7-0, joining Jered Weaver (9-0 in 2006) and Aaron Sele (7-0 in 2004). Santana had won five straight starts before getting a no-decision on Sunday in Tampa. The right-hander gave up a season-high five runs and nine hits while striking out seven over 5 2/3 innings of a game his team went on to lose, 8-5.

Santana is 2-2 in four career starts versus the Dodgers with a 3.42 ERA. He split two starts versus them last year while pitching to a 2.08 ERA and defeated the Dodgers at Angel Stadium.

Vladimir Guerrero knocked in a pair of runs for the Angels yesterday, while Garret Anderson went 2-for-4 with a run batted in. Maicer Izturis and Gary Matthews Jr. each went 2-for-4 and combined to score three runs.

Anderson and Guerrero have enjoyed past success against tonight's starter for the Dodgers, Chan Ho Park. Anderson is hitting .316 (12-for-38) off of him with four doubles, a homer and eight RBI, while Guerrero has a .326 average (15-for-16) with four homers and 11 RBI.

Park will make his first start of the season and first as a Dodger since 2001. The right-hander played his first eight major-league seasons with the Dodgers before spending 2002-07 with Texas, San Diego and the New York Mets. He rejoined the Dodgers prior to the year and is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA and one save in 12 appearances.

The 34-year-old Park hasn't pitched more than three innings this season and made just one start with the Mets last year, taking a loss against the Marlins on April 30 after yielding seven runs on six hits and two walks over four innings.

Park is 5-7 with a 5.90 ERA in 17 career starts against the Angels, and faces them for the first time since June 18, 2006 when he was a member of San Diego. He won that outing behind 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball.

Andre Ethier accounted for the Dodgers' offense on Friday with a two-run homer in the seventh, one of Los Angeles' five hits as it had a two-game win streak snapped and lost for the sixth time in eight games. Hiroki Kuroda (1-3) took the loss after allowing four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits over 6 1/3 frames, racking up five strikeouts.

The Angels dominated the Dodgers last year, winning five of six while holding the Dodgers to two runs or fewer in five of those tests. The Angels won all three games at home and have bested the Dodgers in six straight at Angel Stadium.