The Los Angeles Angels and Athletics will get together for a four-game series when the American League West rivals begin the set on Thursday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
The Athletics took three of four games from the Angels in Anaheim from May 18-21, scoring 23 runs in the three victories.
A's star Nick Kurtz had a season-best five RBIs -- matched on Monday against the Pittsburgh Pirates -- in one of the victories and the Athletics posted two 10-inning wins against the Angels during the set.
The Los Angeles victory came in dramatic fashion as Athletics right-hander J.T. Ginn took a no-hitter into the ninth inning on May 18. Adam Frazier singled to break up the no-hit bid and Zach Neto followed with a two-run walk-off homer to give the Angels a stunning 2-1 victory.
One player who won't be on the field Thursday is Angels star Mike Trout, who was placed on the 10-day injury list due to a right hamstring strain.
Trout, 34, told reporters he sustained the injury while running to first base during the Angels' 8-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
"From last night to today, it's a night and day difference, so that's positive for me," Trout said prior to the Thursday game. "I was a little worried last night but had a plane ride and just sitting down after playing, so that kind of came into effect.
"But feels way better today, so I'm not overly concerned about it, but I'm going to do everything I can in that training room and the weight room to get back."
Trout went 1-for-3 on Wednesday to increase his hitting streak to eight games. He has three homers during that stretch.
Trout leads the squad with 17 homers. Neto has 15.
The Athletics just lost the final two contests of a three-game set against Pittsburgh. In the finale, the Pirates mauled the A's 12-4 on Wednesday.
"We lost the series," Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. "We have the Angels coming in, a divisional opponent.
"We played the Angels pretty well down in (Anaheim), I think the games were really close and I expect the same type of games going into this weekend."
Zack Gelof homered in the bottom of the ninth to extend his career-best hitting streak to 21 games. It rates as the top active streak in the majors.
Gelof is batting .366 (30-for-82) during the streak. He also has five homers in the past nine games.
Kotsay said it isn't easy to keep a streak going in a player's last at-bat of a game.
"Anytime you have a hitting streak on the line, you obviously know that this is an at-bat that you're either going to end it or continue it," Kotsay said. "Pretty impressive at-bat to not only get a hit, but to hit a home run. He's competing and that's what we want from these guys."
The Angels have dropped three of their past four games after losing 8-1 to the host Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Neto homered for the second straight game and has back-to-back two-hit outings after going 2-for-23 with 13 strikeouts over a five-game span. He also had a triple on Tuesday.
"It was good to see him walk and lay off some tough pitches," Los Angeles manager Kurt Suzuki said. "The home run to center field, especially on an off-speed pitch, I thought that was a great sign. He's just got to keep going and keep getting better."
Left-hander Gage Jump (2-1, 3.09 ERA) will make his fifth career start for the Athletics and first versus the Angels on Thursday.
The 23-year-old Jump took a no-decision against the Colorado Rockies in Las Vegas last Friday. He gave up three runs and five hits over five innings.
Jump won his previous two starts and allowed one run and six hits over 13 1/3 innings during the span.
The Angels promoted right-hander Ryan Johnson (0-1, 15.12 ERA) from Double-A Rocket City to make the Thursday start. It will be his fifth major league appearance and second start of the season.
Johnson, 23, started against the Chicago Cubs on March 30 and was rocked for six runs and seven hits over 3 1/3 innings.
Johnson's most recent big-league appearance came on May 19 against the Athletics, and he was roughed up for five runs and four hits over two innings. He served up homers to Gelof and Brent Rooker.
--Field Level Media
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