Oakland at LA Angels
Monday, April 25th, 10:05 PM
(matchup)
Runs should be at a premium Monday night as AL West rivals meet in Anaheim with the A’s taking on the Angels. The pitching matchup is superb with Oakland’s Gio Gonzalez taking on Jered Weaver of Los Angeles. The total is low at 6.5 runs and oddsmakers are giving a big edge to the Halos, installing them as -150 favorites on the betting line.
Weaver has been outstanding this year, clearly establishing himself as an early American League Cy Young candidate. He is 5-0 with a 1.23 ERA so far and he’s made just one home start. One cause for concern, however, has to be his 0-3 record vs. the A’s last year with a 5.40 ERA.
Oakland’s Gio Gonzalez may not have the won-loss record to match Weaver, but he has been equally effective with a 1.80 ERA in four starts (2-2 team start record). Gonzalez has a career 4-1 TSR vs. the Angels with a 3.29 ERA, including two wins in 2010.
Helping Gonzalez is the fact that the Angels come into this game cold. They come off a four-game sweep at the hands of the Red Sox, including back to back shutout losses by a combined score of 12-0. They are hitting just .192 at home so far while averaging 2.2 runs per game.
Therefore, Weaver will again have to be at his best. Over the last two seasons, 14 of his 15 home starts have gone Under the total. Oakland is 0-11 on the road in American League games vs. a pitcher whose WHIP is 1.100 or better. Weaver has a WHIP of 0.764 in his five starts.
Oakland was also shutout in back to back games in its last series, but rallied to win both Saturday and Sunday against the Seattle Mariners to get back over .500 for the year.
The Angels have won 23 of the last 38 matchups head to head with Oakland, yet have actually lost money to the A’s here at home over that time frame thanks to the juice.
