(Best E Casino) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will try to keep up their recent strong play when the team with baseball's worst road record, the Atlanta Braves, pays a visit to Angel Stadium tonight for the first of three straight interleague meetings.

The American League West-leading Angels posted their ninth win in their last 11 games with Wednesday's 4-2 decision over visiting Tampa Bay. Maicer Izturis delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning to help Anaheim win its eighth consecutive series, the longest current streak in the majors.

John Lackey (3-1) did his part on the mound for the Angels, as the ace right- hander yielded just two runs on four hits while striking out seven over 7 1/3 strong innings. Francisco Rodriguez threw a scoreless ninth to pick his major league-best 27th save of the campaign.

Vladimir Guerrero gave the Angels some breathing room with a solo homer in the eighth inning, while Gary Matthews Jr. also went deep in the win.

Anaheim's impressive recent run could continue against a reeling Atlanta squad that has lost six consecutive games and is a horrid 7-24 on the road so far this season. The Braves' misery was extended in Thursday's discouraging loss to the Chicago Cubs, in which the club blew a one-run lead in the ninth inning and eventually fell, 3-2, in 11 frames.

Chicago's Jim Edmonds sent the contest into extras with a one-out solo homer off Blaine Boyer in the bottom of the ninth. The Cubs won it in the 11th when Atlanta reliever Manny Acosta (3-5) hit pinch-hitter Reed Johnson with a pitch while the bases were loaded.

The loss was the Braves' 21st consecutive one-run defeat on the road, and the injury-plagued club has dropped nine of its last 10 -- including six in a row -- overall as the visitor.

Jeff Francoeur was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer for Atlanta, while Kelly Johnson went 3-for-6 with two doubles on the afternoon. Braves starter Tim Hudson gave his team a chance to win by limiting the Cubs to one run over his 6 2/3-inning stint.

Atlanta will turn to youngster Jo-Jo Reyes tonight in hopes of breaking out of its spell. The left-hander will also be attempting to end a four-start winless streak which was extended with Saturday's 6-2 setback to Philadelphia.

In that game Reyes permitted four runs and seven hits, although he did strike out eight batters and threw a season-high 7 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old is 0-3 with a 5.33 earned run average over his last four outings.

Reyes, a Southern California native who will be facing the Angels for the first time, is 0-2 with a 3.95 ERA in a pair of road starts this season.

Jon Garland, who takes the mound this evening for Anaheim, has not suffered a loss in any of his last seven starts. The lanky right-hander is 3-0 with four no-decisions and a excellent 2.28 ERA over that stretch.

Garland ran his season record to 6-3 by holding Oakland to two runs and five hits over seven innings in the Angels' 5-3 victory on Saturday. He also struck out a season-best eight batters on the evening.

The 28-year-old, who hasn't surrendered more than three runs in any of his last seven mound trips, has never previously pitched against Atlanta.

The Angels are expected to get an offensive boost as well for this weekend's series, as leadoff hitter Chone Figgins is expected to be activated from the 15-day disabled list on Friday. The speedy switch-hitter, who is batting .306 with 11 steals this year, has played in just one game since May 3 due to a lingering hamstring injury.

In the only previous series between the Angels and Braves, Anaheim won two of three clashes at Turner Field from June 6-8, 2005.