Back Angels in Battle Against Astros

Astros vs. Angels, 8:10 ET

If you asked me at the beginning of the season, I probably would’ve said this is likely to be an important series for both teams. Now, we’ve seen the Angels have their typical season where they wasted another year of two generational players. The Astros, after losing Carlos Correa, have not missed a beat and continue to dominate.

Part of that dominance is due to the pitching staff, though the Astros really are just a well-rounded team. Today, they have Luis Garcia pitching. Garcia has been good for the Astros, and on the road he has been more effective. So far on the year, he has already faced the Angels twice, and he went 11.2 innings in those games and allowed four earned runs. He has struck out 14 batters in that span as well. Not terribly surprising as the Angels are one of the most strikeout prone teams in all of baseball. It seems as though the Astros may be trying to avoid Garcia going through the lineup a third time – hitters are batting .275 against him the third time through the order. I expect the Astros to turn to the bullpen after five innings or so.

On the other hand, we have Shohei Othani, the media darling and new Babe Ruth. I say that a bit tounge-in-cheek, but in reality, Othani does post numbers and do things no one else currently does. It is a bit strange that we’ve not seen this before – everyone bats growing up playing baseball. Still, you can’t help but be impressed with the guy. He has a 2.67 ERA and has the 8th most strikeouts in the game. August was a beautiful month for him as well. He went 28.2 innings and allowed seven earned runs. When Othani finds his pitching groove, he is very hard to hit.

I think that this is a game the Angels can take. They get their ace facing a pitcher that has struggled as of late. The best option here is to play the Angels at -130. (This opened at +110 for the Angels yesterday, I still support it, but you are no longer getting the best number.)

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