(Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim try to move a few steps closer to securing another American League West title when the first-place club begins a three-game series with the division-rival Oakland Athletics tonight at Angel Stadium.

The Angels appear well on their way to a fourth AL West crown in five years, as Mike Scioscia's squad owns a commanding 17-game lead on second-place Texas with just over 30 remaining in the regular season. The team hasn't been playing its best ball of late, however, having lost seven of its last 11 contests.

Anaheim is coming off a four-game split at home against the red-hot Minnesota Twins over the weekend. The Angels dropped the first two tests of the series before rebounding to take the final pair, including Sunday's 5-3 come-from- behind victory.

The Angels trailed 3-0 after 5 1/2 innings before rallying with five unanswered runs. Three of them came in the bottom of the eighth, with Vladimir Guerrero and Gary Matthews Jr. delivering RBI triples during the frame.

Both Guerrero and Mathhews collected two hits on the afternoon, while Mark Teixeira finished 3-for-4 with a solo home run for Anaheim.

Jose Arredondo (6-1) tossed a scoreless top of the eighth to get the win, while star closer Francisco Rodriguez held the Twins scoreless in the ninth to record his 50th save. Rodriguez is now just seven shy of tying the major league record for saves in a season, set by the White Sox' Bobby Thigpen in 1990.

Angels starter Ervin Santana matched a season-high with 10 strikeouts and allowed just three runs over seven innings, but came away with a no-decision.

Oakland enters the Big A in an extended rut. The club is a woeful 7-23 since July 28 and has failed to win any of its last 12 series. At least the A's didn't lose one against their most recent opponent, the Seattle Mariners.

The Athletics split their four-game set with Seattle, but missed out on an opportunity to take the series by dropping an 8-4 decision on Sunday. The defeat spoiled the first career multi-homer game from third baseman Jack Hannahan, who belted two solo blasts on the day.

Dan Meyer (0-2) surrendered four runs in five innings of work to take the loss for Oakland, which has dropped six of its last nine.

The A's will take their swings tonight off Jered Weaver, who faces Oakland for the first time this season. The Anaheim right-hander has recorded no-decisions in both of his last two starts, including Wednesday's tilt at Tampa Bay in which he allowed three runs over six innings. Weaver did strike out a season- best nine in that game, however.

For the year, Weaver is a so-so 10-9 with a 4.47 earned run average over 25 starts. The 25-year-old does own a 2.76 ERA in five lifetime matchups with the Athletics, along with a 2-1 record.

Dallas Braden gets the call for Oakland in tonight's opener. The left-hander joined the new-look A's rotation in late July and has gone 2-3 with a 4.41 ERA over his six starting assignments.

Braden suffered a loss his last time out, although he posted seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in his team's 3-1 setback at Minnesota on Wednesday. He was charged with all three Twins runs.

The Texas Tech product worked seven innings in each of his previous two starts, including an August 8 win at Detroit in which he yielded just two runs and five hits.

Braden has opposed Anaheim five times over his career, once as a starter, and has no record and a 3.00 ERA through nine total innings.

The Angels have won eight of the 13 2008 meetings between these AL West foes and are 4-3 against Oakland at home this year.