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(Sports Network) - First place in the American League's West Division will be on the line when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Oakland Athletics start up a four-game series tonight at Angel Stadium.

Both clubs come in sporting identical 16-10 records -- the two best marks in the American League -- and have played good baseball as of late. The Angels return home after winning four of their last five tests of a six-game road trip through Boston and Detroit, while Oakland has posted victories in seven of its nine most recent outings.

The Athletics will also be sending out a red-hot pitcher to the hill this evening in Chad Gaudin. The right-hander has been brilliant in back-to-back starts, having yielded just two runs -- one earned -- over a combined 14 innings in home wins over Kansas City and Minnesota.

Gaudin limited the Twins to four hits and did not walk a batter through seven scoreless frames in Oakland's 3-0 decision on Wednesday. Prior to that performance, he struck out eight batters and allowed just four hits in a seven-inning stint to defeat the Royals on April 18.

The 25-year-old made six starts against the Angels last season and went 1-2 with a 5.09 earned run average over those games. He struggled in Anaheim, however, where Gaudin surrendered 14 runs (13 earned) in 13 2/3 innings over three appearances.

For his career, Gaudin is 2-2 with a 5.23 ERA in 13 games (6 starts) versus the Angels.

Jon Garland, who takes the hill for Anaheim tonight, has also recorded victories in his last two starts. The offseason acquisition battled his way through six innings in Wednesday's 6-4 triumph over the Red Sox, in which Garland gave up four runs on eight hits.

Prior to that outing, the lanky right-hander held Kansas City to two runs and seven hits through 6 1/3 frames to pick up a win at Angel Stadium on April 17.

Garland, who spent the last eight seasons with the Chicago White Sox, is just 3-8 with a 4.58 ERA in 13 lifetime starts against Oakland. He hasn't beaten the Athletics since July 2, 2005.

He will attempt to duplicate teammate Jered Weaver's solid performance in last night's 6-2 victory at Detroit. The Angels starter allowed just two runs and four hits over 6 1/3 innings to lead his team to its seventh win in 10 games.

Weaver (2-3) received offensive support from Torii Hunter and Erick Aybar, both of whom collected two hits and knocked in three runs on the evening. Casey Kotchman also had a pair of hits for Anaheim.

Oakland put forth a furious late rally to overtake Seattle in Sunday's rubber match of a three-game series between the AL West rivals. The Athletics scored four times in the top of the eighth inning, with Jack Cust driving in the go- ahead run with a single, to come through with a 4-2 decision.

Emil Brown knotted the contest at 2-2 with a base hit that brought home a pair of runners. He later scored on Ryan Sweeney's single that extended Oakland's advantage to 4-2.

The comeback made a winner out of A's starter Joe Blanton (2-4), who permitted two runs on eight hits in seven innings of work. Huston Street notched his eighth save of the campaign by holding the Mariners scoreless in the ninth.

Oakland won 10 of its 19 meetings with the Angels in 2007, with the teams splitting 10 encounters in Anaheim a year ago.