Ann Johansson / AP file

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has had his franchise refuse to refer to the Angels as being from Los Angeles.

As for the Angels, they have a potent lineup on paper, but that’s where it has remained. They rank 26^th out of 30 major league clubs in team batting. Aside from stalwarts like Garrett Anderson (.303 batting average, 32 RBI, four home runs) and Vlad Guerrero (.309, 24 RBI, seven homers), the rest of the Angels have been tepid at best. Chone Figgins and Darin Erstad at the top of the lineup have been especially disappointing in igniting the offense, and while Dallas McPherson struggles at third with a .218 batting average, the man he replaced — Troy Glaus, now in Arizona — has driven in 29 runs and smacked 11 dingers.

But the Angels seem to have a slightly better future than their Southland rivals — if their pitching pans out. They just put Kelvim Escobar on the 15-day DL with a bone spur in his right elbow, and he should miss one or two starts. They’re getting fairly consistent efforts from Bartolo Colon (5-3, 2.67 ERA) and Paul Byrd (4-3, 4.15) and sometimes promising ones from Jarrod Washburn and John Lackey.

Looking ahead to a postseason series, the Angels’ top starters of Colon, Escobar and either Byrd or Lackey are more likely to keep their team in the game rather than the occasional kerosene kids the Dodgers have in Lowe, Weaver and Perez.

Yet the real intrigue this weekend will emanate from the owners’ seats.

You just know that with this Freeway Series McCourt wants to figuratively do to Moreno what that fan in Oakland did to Jason Giambi, although McCourt is too cheap to waste a whole beer.

Much of the Hot Stove talk was how mystified pundits were as to the Dodgers’ reconstruction of their roster. After the club’s torrid start, McCourt probably enjoyed sticking it to them almost as much as he likes needling Moreno by failing to recognize the “Los Angeles” in the Angels’ new branding. For his part, Moreno has been subdued, probably because he’s still engaged in a court battle with the city of Anaheim over the name change and doesn’t want to risk alienating his Orange County fan base any further.

The Dodgers have a sizeable advantage in this turf war because they’ve been the dominant presence in the greater Los Angeles area for many years. But the Angels make a good case, because unlike the skinflint image that McCourt projects, Moreno has wielded a hot checkbook and has shown a willingness to do whatever it takes to build a World Series champion.

A cheapskate owner up to his receding hairline in debt against an adventurous entrepreneur bent on conquering all of Southern California.

This Freeway Series should have its share of road rage.

More news

Tony Gutierrez / AP

More heroics from Hamilton

Josh Hamilton fights off illness to hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning, lifting the Texas Rangers to an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Angels win as Pujols HR streak up to 3 games

SEATTLE (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a home run in his third straight game and pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo came through with a grand slam in the sixth inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

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