(Best E Casino) - Joe Torre makes his return to the American League tonight, as the first-year Dodger skipper leads his club against the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim tonight in the opener of a three-game interleague set at Angel Stadium.
Torre, of course, managed the New York Yankees for the previous 12 seasons, and in that span guided the Yankees to a 113-79 mark in interleague play, the best winning percentage among all clubs in interleague action.
The 67-year-old skipper, who has endured the Subway Series between the Yankees and Mets over his tenure in New York, gets his first taste of the Freeway Series tonight.
The Angels dominated the Dodgers last year, winning five of six and holding the Dodgers to two runs or fewer in five of those tests. The Angels won all three games at home and are 12-6 versus the Dodgers since the start of the 2005 season.
Torre returned to the NL this season and has the Dodgers two games above .500 at 21-19. Los Angeles won its second straight game on Thursday following a five-game losing streak, as the Dodgers downed Milwaukee, 7-2.
Blake DeWitt's lower back pain turned out to be a blessing, as it allowed Gary Bennett to be inserted into the lineup. Russell Martin moved from catcher to third, with Bennett sliding in behind the plate. Bennett doubled and hit a three-run homer, ending the game with a season-high four RBI in his first start since May 3.
DeWitt had been playing at third in place of the injured Nomar Garciaparra (strained left calf) and is questionable for tonight.
Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent each homered in the win. For Jones, it was just his second home run of the season and he is still batting a miserable .182 on the season.
The Dodgers will send rookie Hiroki Kuroda to the hill tonight. Kuroda, who has posted four straight no-decisions, was excellent last time out. After lasting just 3 1/3 innings versus the Mets on May 6, the Japanese import held Houston to a run on one hit and three walks over 6 2/3 innings on Sunday, striking out a season-high five.
Los Angeles eventually lost to the Astros, but Kuroda lowered his earned run average to 3.59 to go along with a 1-2 record.
The Angels have lost two straight and six of their last eight, and now lead the American League West by just a half-game over Oakland. LA split a four- game set with the Chicago White Sox after dropping Thursday's finale, 4-3.
Garret Anderson went 2-for-4 with one RBI, while Maicer Izturis had two hits and two runs scored for the Angels. Jon Garland started on the mound against his old team and gave up three runs on seven hits with four walks and a strikeout in six innings of work. Francisco Rodriguez (0-1) got the loss for giving up one run on two hits.
Joe Saunders tasted defeat for the first time this season in his last start and will try to get back in the win column tonight. Saunders had won five straight starts before suffering a tough-luck loss against Tampa Bay on Saturday, as he held the Rays to just a run on four hits, though he also walked a season-high four batters.
Saunders, who is 6-1 on the season with the AL's sixth lowest ERA at 2.48, has made just one career interleague start. He faced Pittsburgh on June 22 of last season and got a no-decision after six innings of four-run ball.
The Angels will miss Chone Figgins in this series, as he had the second most hits in interleague play last year with 31. He batted .397 against the NL in 2007 but is currently on the disabled list due to a right hamstring strain.
Anderson, meanwhile, has 208 career hits in interleague play to go along with 115 RBI, while Vladimir Guerrero drove in 20 runs against the NL last year.
The Angels went an outstanding 14-4 in interleague play last year, hitting .330 as a team while pitching to a 3.72 ERA. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were 5-10 against the AL a year ago.
