Washington at LA Angels
Monday, June 27th, 10:05 PM
(matchup)
For a while now, the hottest team in baseball betting has been the Washington Nationals. Winners of 13 of their previous 15, the Nats begin an Interleague series tonight in Los Angeles against an Angels team who just missed an opportunity for a three-game sweep of the cross-town Dodgers. Oddsmakers have opened the Angels as -135 favorites for this matchup and since that time we’ve seen the number pretty much hold steady.
Washington’s rise above .500 has coincided with a bizarre managerial ordeal that saw Jim Riggleman quit following Thursday’s 1-0 win over Seattle and veteran Davey Johnson get hired. Johnson makes his debut tonight in the dugout as interim skipper John McLaren went 2-1 in a weekend series against the White Sox.
A win tonight would get the Nationals to a season best three games over .500.
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The Angels won five of seven to conclude a long 12-game road trip in which they went 8-4 overall. A return home may not be as beneficial as you’d think, however, as LA is averaging just 3.1 runs per game in their own ballpark this season. In their only previous home Interleague series, they did manage to take two of three from the Atlanta Braves.
Both of these teams stand at 8-4 in Interleague Play thus far.
The pitching matchup, always key to analyze when making MLB picks, features two hurlers who have had very different recent results. Washington’s John Lannan has a 3-0 team start record in his last three trips to the mound to go along with a 1.89 ERA. He’s allowed just five earned runs in his last six outings with Washington going 5-1 in those games.
The Angels’ Erwin Santana has a 1-1 team start record in IL play with a complete game victory over Atlanta and a loss at Florida his last time out, his fourth loss in as many starts. In those four games, the Angels have averaged less than two runs per game. Ironically, the last time LA won a Santana start, he allowed six runs over six innings.
Washington has done well for Over bettors this season when facing right-handed starters, going 35-19 Over in spite of yesterday’s 2-1 win that was a clear win for Under players.
