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Santana fans 10 over eight solid frames

The 15-out limit worked for Angels starter Ervin Santana his last time out, but whether manager Mike Scioscia goes back to it for a second straight start remains to be seen.

After giving up 16 runs over nine innings in his previous three starts, Santana found a bit of success against the Rangers in his last start. Limited to 15 outs no matter how well he was pitching, the right-hander allowed three runs on four hits and a walk by the end of the fifth inning.

The 15-out limit was meant to make Santana more aggressive earlier in the game, and it seemed to work. Whether Scioscia will go to that game plan for Saturday's game against the White Sox is still up in the air, however.

"We'll see. It's tough to tax our bullpen with any kind of governor," Scioscia said before Friday's 8-6, 10-inning loss to Chicago. "But I think we'll look and see where we are and if we have enough innings to cover it, we'll consider it. We'll make that determination tomorrow."

Facing Santana will be White Sox right-hander Gavin Floyd. Even after allowing seven hits, walking five and hitting one batter in a start against the Rangers on Sunday, Floyd gave up only one earned run in his 6 2/3 innings.

The walks have been a trend for Floyd as he has walked 11 and struck out just two over his last 12 2/3 innings. He'll be pitching on an extra day of rest on Saturday.

"It didn't feel the greatest but whatever situation I had out there I had to bear down and make pitches," Floyd said after his last start. "I continued to focus on each pitch and try to get a double play or an out and tried to minimize damage."

White Sox: Home sweet home for South Siders
Saturday's second game of a three-game series against the Angels is the second of a nine-game homestand for the White Sox after playing 16 of 19 games to start the second half on the road.

Though they're just one game better at U.S. Cellular Field than they are away from it, second baseman Gordan Beckham said there's just something special this season about playing at home.

"I feel like other years we've come home, where it was like, 'We are coming home and we always play bad here,'" Beckham said. "This year I feel like we love coming home because we know we will at least play well. Got a lot of screaming fans behind us."

Angels: Forgetting the Texas series
After the Angels took the first two games against the Rangers in the beginning of the week and had a three-run lead in extras in the third game, things were looking pretty good.

They were about to cut the deficit in the American League West to just two games and put some real pressure on the Rangers. But it wasn't to be, as the Angels allowed a dramatic comeback in the third game and fell flat in the fourth, earning a split and picking up no games in the standings.

But as they came into Chicago for an equally-as-important series against the AL Central-leading White Sox, the Angels had to put the disappointing series ending against Texas behind them, Scioscia and outfielder Mark Trumbo said. It couldn't carry over.

"We've got a good team here," Scioscia said. "We've been playing good baseball for a really long time now. There's going to be a few hiccups along the road, but there haven't been any prolonged dips, so I think we're pretty good where we are."

Worth noting
• After sweeping the White Sox in a three-game series in Chicago and winning six out of eight last season, the Angels have dropped two of three games against the White Sox so far in 2012.

• The Angels have lost three games in a row for the first time since May 19-21.

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