Baltimore @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 20, 2011 ) Baltimore 8, LA Angels 9

THE STORY: The Los Angeles Angels are inching back into the American League West race behind some final-inning dramatics. The Angels staged their second walk-off victory in three games on Saturday and find themselves five games behind the Texas Rangers entering Sunday’s series finale against the Baltimore Orioles. Los Angeles trailed by two runs in the 12th on Saturday before rallying for three runs for a 9-8 victory with Bobby Abreu’s sacrifice fly plating the decisive run. On Thursday, Mark Trumbo hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give Los Angeles a dramatic one-run victory over the Rangers when Texas was on the verge of completing a four-game sweep. Baltimore has lost four straight games and is a season-low 29 games below .500.

TV: 3:35 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Baltimore), FSW (Los Angeles).

PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles LH Brian Matusz (1-5, 8.63 ERA) vs. Angels RH Jerome Williams (NR)

Matusz lost to Oakland on Tuesday in his return to the majors when he allowed six runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. He has lost five straight big-league starts, counting four consecutive June defeats before he was demoted. Matusz is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two career starts against the Angels. Vernon Wells is 3-for-4 with a homer and two doubles against Matusz.

The 29-year-old Williams is making his first big-league start since 2007 with the Washington Nationals. The outing will represent his second appearance with the Angels after pitching in relief against Texas last Wednesday. Williams defeated Baltimore in his only prior outing back in 2004, giving up three runs in 7 1/3 innings when he pitched for San Francisco. Williams was a first-round pick of the Giants in 1999.

ABOUT THE ANGELS (68-59): Abreu also had a two-run double as part of a three-RBI contest. It was well-timed production considering Angels manager Mike Scioscia informed Abreu on Friday that his playing time will be reduced with top prospect Mike Trout back in the majors. Abreu was batting .176 since the All-Star break prior to having two hits on Saturday. Peter Bourjos is 6-for-11 in the series and is batting .483 during a seven-game hitting streak. Bourjos homered and had three hits Saturday. Trumbo also had three hits. Torii Hunter went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 18 games. Closer Jordan Walden blew his league-high ninth save in 35 opportunities.

ABOUT THE ORIOLES (47-76): Baltimore had 17 hits in Saturday’s 12-inning loss. Adam Jones had four hits and a homer while Nick Markakis and Matt Wieters each had three. J.J. Hardy and Nolan Reimold had two hits apiece. Jones is batting .467 during an eight-game hitting streak and Wieters is 5-for-8 in the series. Markakis had his third three-hit game and is batting .444 during a six-game hitting streak. Hardy has three straight two-hit games after going four games without a hit. Vladimir Guerrero was just 1-for-6 but extended his hitting streak to eight games. Right-hander Jeremy Guthrie is slated to test his sore pitching to see if he’ll be able to start against the Minnesota Twins in this week’s upcoming series.

FINAL PITCH: Williams has a 23-29 career record and his path back to the majors including a stint in Taiwan last season. “I’m speechless,” Williams told reporters Saturday. “Them giving me the ball with this race going on, it shows a lot in myself that I’ve reached a point where I’m back and can actually help somebody out.”