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BAL@LAA: Weaver spins three-hit gem for his 10th win

When the Angels took two of three from the Rangers last month, it was their first series win over Texas in nearly a year.

They trimmed the Rangers' lead in the AL West to 4 1/2 games and climbed to one game above .500. The Angels have continued to improve their once-unimpressive record, becoming one of four teams to pick up their 50th victory Tuesday, when they trounced the Tigers, 13-0, before losing the next two games to Detroit. They have won 22 of 37 games since their last series against the Rangers, who have won 23 of 37 since that three-game set in Anaheim and extended their division lead to six games.

"It is a significant series," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. "It's significant in that they can catch up, we can move forward or it can stay status quo. When we get there this weekend, we'll focus on Friday, then on Saturday and then on Sunday. Our focus is on the field, not on the standings. We just want to win, just like they want to win."

"We can't just say, 'We're going to step up for these guys.' No, we step up every day," said Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, who turned 37 on Wednesday. "We step up to play every day, and we play hard, and that's why we're winning. So, we're going to take the same approach -- whether it's the Yankees, whether it's Texas, whether it's Detroit, we're coming to play, no matter what."

The Rangers will face All-Star Jered Weaver for the first time in more than two months. Weaver's 11 wins are the third-most in the AL, his 2.26 ERA is the second-lowest in the AL to Chris Sale's 2.11 mark, and he is holding opponents to a .202 batting average, the second-lowest in the AL behind Justin Verlander (.195). Weaver will try to keep the Angels in the AL West hunt Friday.

"Any time you can take some wins against them, it's definitely good to take away some games, [so] you don't have to scoreboard watch," Weaver said. "But you try to go about it just like any other game; just go out there and play the game and try to come out on top."

Weaver suffered his only loss of the year in his last start against the Rangers. In a 13-6 defeat May 13, Weaver allowed a season-high eight runs on 10 hits, including a tiebreaking grand slam to Nelson Cruz in the third inning, in a season-low 3 1/3 innings. He was 5-0 with a 1.60 ERA going into that game, and he has since posted a 6-0 record and 1.63 ERA in eight starts, winning each of his last five starts.

Derek Holland, who spent a month on the disabled list with shoulder fatigue and a stomach virus beginning June 7, will start for the Rangers. He won for the first time since being activated July 7 in his last start, tossing 7 2/3 shutout innings, giving up four hits while striking out four and walking two in a 3-2 win over the Mariners on Friday. Holland's 106 pitches that game were the most he threw in a game since April 29. He is 5-3 with a 4.97 ERA in 12 appearances, including nine starts, in his career against the Angels.

Rangers: Ross' scoreless-innings streak comes to end
Rookie Rangers reliever Robbie Ross tossed a scoreless sixth inning Wednesday against the A's, extending his streak to 24 straight innings without allowing a run. But he was replaced by Alexi Ogando after giving up a leadoff double in the seventh to Brandon Inge, who later scored on a two-run, game-tying double by Josh Reddick. That ended Ross' consecutive scoreless-innings streak at 24.

It was the second-longest in the Majors behind Ryan Dempster's 33 straight scoreless innings and the longest in team history since Darren O'Day pitched 26 1/3 innings in a row without surrendering a run in 2010.

• Yorvit Torrealba, who was placed on paternity leave Tuesday to be with his wife, Millie, in Florida, is expected to return for Friday's series opener against the Angels. Torrealba last played Sunday in Seattle. Luis Martinez, a catcher who was called up from Triple-A Round Rock, was called up Saturday and is expected to be optioned back to Round Rock when Torrealba returns. Martinez, who played in 22 games with the Padres last season, replaced Mike Napoli, who moved to first base, at catcher in the ninth inning Wednesday in his first game with the Rangers.

Angels: Offense on a roll
Despite their 5-1 defeat Wednesday, the Angels' 24 home runs this month lead the Majors while their .303 batting average and their .511 slugging percentage is the second-best in baseball since June 24.

Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout have led their team's offensive charge. Trumbo has homered in five of his last seven games and leads all of baseball with 20 home runs and 46 RBIs since May 25 and is on pace to break the team record for home runs in July. Trumbo has hit seven this month already, and the team record is 11.

The Angels are 44-28 (.611) since calling up Mike Trout on April 28, and he is batting .410 with seven home runs, 17 RBIs, 29 runs and 11 stolen bases in his last 23 games.

Worth noting
• Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus is hitting .429 (21-for-49) in his career against Weaver, the fifth-highest among players with at least 20 at-bats against him.

• The Rangers have stolen two bases in their last 13 games after swiping 64 in their first 68.

• Josh Hamilton tied Adam Dunn for the Major League lead with his 28th home run Tuesday and has driven in a Major League-leading 78 runs this season. Two of his four hits in eight games since the All-Star break have been home runs. Hamilton, who is hitting .161 this month, has not had an extra-base hit that wasn't a home run since a double June 20 against the Rockies.

• Sunday's series finale between the Rangers and Angels has been moved from 3:35 p.m. ET to 8:05 p.m. ET to accommodate ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball broadcast.

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