The Houston Astros took care of business on Friday night with a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels. But the two teams will be back at it again on Saturday night in Anaheim. On the road, the Astros are the heavy favorites with a moneyline of -220, while the Angels have a moneyline of +180.
With Friday’s loss, the Angels are now a game under .500 and barely hanging on in the periphery of the playoff race. After putting together a four-game winning streak last week, the Halos have now lost five of their last seven games. If they’re going to play meaningful games in September, they have to start stringing wins together.
As for the Astros, they extended their lead atop the AL West to 2.5 games with Friday’s win. Houston hit a little bit of a slump recently, losing five of seven games to open the month of August. But with three straight wins, the Astros have stabilized things and are now looking to build a more comfortable lead atop the division.
The Youngster Brigade
Luis Garcia will start for the Houston Astros on Saturday, hoping to continue a strong campaign as one of several young arms that have led the Astros this year. In 19 starts and two relief appearances, Garcia is 8-6 with a 3.29 ERA. Despite a couple of hiccups recently, Garcia tossed six scoreless innings against the Twins in his last start, yielding just two hits while striking out eight.
To be fair, Garcia had some issues in two earlier appearances against the Angels, although this LA lineup looks a little different from the last time he faced them. Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout are sidelined while Shohei Ohtani is still in the midst of a slump. With Justin Upton also in a slump and Jared Walsh only recently returning from the IL, the Angels have averaged just 3.1 runs per game over their last 10 games.
Raise the Barria
Jaime Barria will start for the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, hoping to overcome a lack of run support. The 25-year-old has made just three starts and two relief appearances this season, spending most of the year in the minors. But he’s looked better over his last three starts since his latest recall, giving up five runs over 19.2 innings, although he’s been victimized by three homers during that span.
That could be a problem against a Houston lineup that has plenty of power. However, the Astros haven’t scored more than five runs in 10 straight games, so things aren’t fully clicking with Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel on the IL. On the other hand, the Astros have scored at least three runs in all of those games, with Aledmys Diaz and Jose Altuve going strong.
State the Obvious
Even if the Astros aren’t playing their best baseball right now, they’re still better than the Angels, who are struggling to score runs. Garcia figures to pitch well enough so that Houston’s lineup doesn’t have to do that much damage to be in a position to win.
Bet on the Astros as heavy favorites to beat the Angels on Saturday.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.