Tampa Bay at LA Angels
Wednesday, June 8th, 10:05 PM
(matchup)
It should be an excellent pitching matchup tonight in Los Angeles as the Angels host the Tampa Bay Rays with Jered Weaver and James Shields squaring off. Weaver is a -155 favorite on the betting line despite the fact the team has lost six of its last seven, including both games in this series. Playing the total Under 6.5 runs might be worth a look here considering Weaver is 17-1 Under his last 18 home starts.
After losing Monday’s series opener 5-1 as +130 underdogs, the Angels really burned their backers last night with a 4-1 loss as -160 favorites. As mentioned above, it was the club’s sixth loss in its last seven games, including four straight. They were an underdog in all five losses prior to last night.
The reason for the Angels recent struggles is pretty obvious – a lack of offense. They have scored three runs or fewer in 18 of their past 31 games, including each of the last seven. Interestingly, the team has won six in a row when scoring at least four runs.
Giving the baseball to Weaver should mean that LA won’t need much offense tonight. Weaver has posted a 1.17 ERA his last three starts, but he’s been very up and down in 2011. After starting the year by winning six straight starts (0.99 ERA), he went 0-4 with a 5.25 ERA his next four. In his only loss over his last three starts, Weaver threw nine innings of shutout, two-hit ball, but the Angels lost the game 1-0 to Minnesota.
Weaver has experienced a lot of success in his career vs. Tampa Bay with a 5-1 team start record and 2.27 ERA. That includes a win at Tropicana Field earlier this year, as a -115 favorite. He went 6.7 innings, allowed just one run on three hits and struck out six.
James Shields gets the baseball for Tampa Bay, looking to bounce back from an unusually poor outing. Last Thursday at Seattle, Shields was tagged for eight runs – seven earned – in just four innings of work in a loss to the Mariners. It was his first road loss of the season and second in his last two starts overall. After allowing two earned runs or less in six consecutive starts, Shields has allowed three earned runs or more in three of his last four outings.
Like Weaver, Shields also owns a win this season over tonight’s opponent, having beaten the Angels 2-1 back on April 30th. He was masterful over eight innings, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out 12 and issuing only one walk.
The road team has been a great
MLB pick this year when the Rays and Angels play. With Tampa Bay taking the first two games of this series, the road team is 6-1 in seven head to head meetings.
Our betting trends suggest that the Under might be a good
MLB pick tonight. Not only is the Under 17-1 in Weaver’s home starts, but its 20-5 when he starts off a team loss. The Angels have also gone Under in 9 of 10 games this year when hosting an AL East team.
