Freeway Series Shifts To Anaheim
(AP) -- Apparently one big outburst to start the week wasn't enough to get the Los Angeles Dodgers out of their offensive slump.
Providing run support for Hiroki Kuroda has been a problem nearly all season.
Kuroda looks for his first win in more than six weeks Friday night when the visiting Dodgers and surging Los Angeles Angels open their second Freeway Series in less than a week.
The Dodgers (36-46) were held to seven runs while losing two of three to the Angels last weekend, but followed that series by setting season highs for runs and hits (25) in Monday's 15-0 victory over Minnesota. However, they managed only seven hits each of the next two days and lost both games to the Twins, including a 1-0 defeat Wednesday.
They've lost 10 of 15 while averaging 2.7 runs if excluding Monday's win. A loss Friday would drop the Dodgers 11 games below .500 for the first time since ending the 2005 season with a 71-91 record.
"(Losing) wears you down, obviously," first-year manager Don Mattingly said. "You go into the season, you feel like you're better than this. I still feel like we're better than this. We talk about a lot of different things, but the frustration is not being able to put them both together on a consistent basis."
Hitting and pitching have rarely shined in the same day, especially when Kuroda (5-9, 3.10 ERA) is on the mound.
The right-hander has pitched well lately but is 0-6 in seven outings since May 17, greatly because he's received a total of six runs of support in that span. Kuroda allowed two earned runs or fewer in all five of his starts in June.
He gave up two runs and three hits in five innings of a 6-1 loss to the Angels on Saturday. It was the 11th consecutive start Kuroda has received no more than three runs of support.
"It's unfortunate that these type of games are continuing when I pitch, but I have to regroup and hope for the best in the next game," Kuroda said of the limited offensive production.
After beating Kuroda, the Angels (42-40) blew a ninth-inning lead in a 3-2 loss to the Dodgers in Sunday's series finale. However, that's their only defeat in the past seven games, having completed a three-game sweep of Washington with a 1-0 victory Wednesday.
Prior to that series, the Angels had lost seven of eight at home before going 8-4 on their road trip from June 13-26. In the midst of a season-high 13-game homestand, the Angels hope to continue the momentum.
"It's good just to finish off a series, no matter who it is against," outfielder Vernon Wells said. "We've had a couple of opportunities to do that, and for us to be able to do it in our first series at home for a while, it's huge."
Wells is batting .360 with six RBIs in the last six games, with two of his three homers in that span coming against the Dodgers.
He hit a three-run shot Saturday, when Tyler Chatwood (5-4, 3.64) beat Kuroda by allowing one run - on a bases-loaded walk - and four hits in seven innings.
Chatwood takes the mound again Friday looking to win a third straight start. The rookie right-hander has pitched at least seven innings in five of his last seven outings, going 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in interleague play during that time.
The Angels have won seven of nine against the Dodgers.
