(Sports Network) - The Kansas City Royals are hoping Brian Bannister can regain his early-season form when the right-hander takes the mound in tonight's middle matchup of a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from Kauffman Stadium.

Bannister was unbeatable during his first three starts of 2008, as the second- year Royal yielded a mere two earned runs over a combined 21 innings in April victories over Detroit, the New York Yankees and Minnesota. It's been a different story for Bannister over his three most recent outings, however.

After dropping decisions to Oakland and Cleveland in back-to-back starts, Bannister was shelled for seven runs on seven hits -- including three home runs -- in just three innings in a loss at Texas this past Wednesday. The 27- year-old had surrendered only one homer over his first five appearances of the season.

Perhaps a return to the Kauffman Stadium mound, where Bannister has gone 2-1 with a 1.74 earned run average in three starts this year, will help him get back on track. This will be his first career matchup against the Angels.

The AL West-leading Angels drew first blood in this series with Monday's 4-0 triumph, highlighted by another stellar performance out of undefeated hurler Ervin Santana.

Santana allowed just four hits and struck out a season-high nine to record his second career shutout. The standout righty joined teammate Joe Saunders and the Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang as the only AL pitchers off to 6-0 starts this season.

Saunders and Santana also became the first pitchers on the same team to win their first six decisions since Pedro Martinez and John Burkett did so for Boston in 2002.

The game was scoreless until the ninth inning, when Casey Kotchman put the Angels in front with an RBI single off reliever Jimmy Gobble. Two batters later, Garret Anderson belted a two-run homer to give Anaheim a 3-0 advantage, and Brandon Wood followed with a solo blast to cap the scoring.

The setback, which halted Kansas City's two-game win streak, spoiled a splendid showing from Royals starter Brett Tomko. The veteran tossed seven shutout innings in which he held Anaheim to two hits while striking out seven batters.

Ramon Ramirez was charged with the loss after giving up a leadoff triple to Erick Aybar, who scored on Kotchman's hit, to begin the ninth inning.

The Angels played Monday's contest without infielder Chone Figgins, who sat out a second straight game due to a right hamstring strain and isn't expected to be back in the lineup until this weekend.

Anaheim will be aiming for its sixth victory in eight tries this evening and hands the ball to promising rookie Nick Adenhart on Tuesday. The heralded prospect had a forgettable major-league debut this past Thursday, when Adenhart lasted just two-plus innings and was charged with five runs in a no decision against Oakland at Angel Stadium.

Control was Adenhart's biggest problem in his initial outing. The 21-year-old walked five batters and threw only 24 of 57 pitches for strikes.

Considered the top pitching prospect in the Angels' system, Adenhart was promoted to the majors last week after posting a 4-0 record and an impressive 0.87 ERA in five starts for Triple-A Salt Lake.

The Royals split a two-game set at Angels Stadium from April 16-17 and have taken six of the last eight meetings between these teams. Anaheim is 10-4 at Kauffman Stadium since the start of the 2005 campaign, however.