Angels-Indians Preview

Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia said that Ervin Santana's record doesn't paint a good picture of how well he's pitched lately. It's pretty clear how poorly Santana has performed in Cleveland.

The Angels right-hander goes for his first career road win in this matchup Wednesday when the Angels and Indians close out their season series.

Since losing a career high-tying four consecutive starts June 4-21, Santana (5-8, 3.69 ERA) is 2-0 with a 2.21 ERA in five outings, and the right-hander has not allowed more than three runs in his last seven.

After going 0-2 with a 4.65 ERA in his previous five road starts, Santana threw 7 2-3 innings of one-run ball in Friday's 6-1 win over Baltimore to help the Angels (56-48) get off to a good start to their 10-game trip.

"Ervin's been pitching much better than his won-loss record indicates,'' Scioscia said. "I think a lot of his losses were kind of close to tonight's game - there wasn't much support, he pitched late, maybe there was a hit here they got that we didn't get. There's no doubt his internal numbers paint a little different picture of how well he pitched.''

Scioscia, whose team has won five of seven following a three-game skid, can't say that about Santana in Cleveland, where he is 0-3 with an 8.10 ERA in four starts. He is 0-6 with a 4.98 ERA in 10 career starts in this matchup after giving up three runs in seven innings of a 4-3, 12-inning victory over the Indians on April 13.

Santana will face a Cleveland team that has dropped seven of 10 following Tuesday's 2-1 defeat.

After Jason Kipnis gave the Indians their 11th last at-bat home win with a walkoff single - his first career hit - in Monday's 3-2 series-opening victory, Cleveland failed to score in the ninth Tuesday after loading the bases with no outs. Kipnis struck out to end the game.

"They stopped the magic tonight," manager Manny Acta said.

Cleveland (52-49), batting .196 and averaging 2.0 runs while dropping five of six, will try to recapture it with David Huff (1-0, 0.00) making his second start of 2011.

The left-hander was scheduled to get the ball Saturday against the Chicago White Sox, but the game was postponed due to rain.

"I'm used to this,'' Huff said. "When I pitched at Triple-A in Buffalo a few years ago, they called me 'The Rain Man' because every time I was scheduled, we got postponed or I had to go out there in bad weather.''

Rain or shine, Huff has to feel good just being with the club. After losing his last five starts in 2010 to finish 2-11, the left-hander was sent to the minors this spring after failing to earn a spot in the rotation.

In his first start since Aug. 8, Huff struck out five in seven scoreless innings of a 5-2 win at Minnesota on July 18.

"I can't say enough about the job he did," Acta told the Indians' official website.

Huff hasn't received those kinds of compliments following starts against the Angels. He is 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA in this matchup after giving up a career-high 12 hits in a 5-2 loss in Anaheim on April 26, 2010.

Los Angeles, three back of AL West-leading Texas, has won five of eight versus Cleveland in 2011, clinching the season series for the fifth time in seven years.