LA Angels vs Tampa Bay Rays: Angels must do their best to win

If one continues at this pace, Mike Trout will lose his playoff chances again long before the regular season ends. The Angels are the worst in the league in average passing and, while they score enough themselves, are not consistently capable of winning. Let’s pick a few bets for the third game of their series against Tampa. Anaheim have gotten 15 runs in the first 2 meetings.

Since pitching leaves a lot to be desired and the Angels, allowing an average of 5.48 runs per game, have the absolute worst defense in the league, that means they need to work the bat perfectly themselves. It turns out to be close to that, but still not enough for consistent results. 4.74 - The Angels finish in the top 10 in terms of runs. Not bad, but the missed/scored difference is still gigantic. Anaheim’s 13-14 win-loss balance is the only 4th in the division (AL West).

Japan’s Shohei Ohtani will likely be the starting pitcher for the upcoming game. The Angels’ best pitcher, and the best batter, too! That’s only possible in Anaheim. Ohtani is 1-0 in three games on the mound with a 3.29 ERA. He is also sporting 22 RBI and 9 home runs.

Mike Trout has 41%, 16 RBI and 7 home runs to start the season. Less than Ohtani, but a team-best 17 runs scored and 8 doubles.

The Rays parted ways with a number of their core baseball players after last year’s World Series defeat, but, interestingly enough, they have essentially stayed the same. Tampa are still the same no-star team that nevertheless squeezes the most, if not more, out of its available resources. For example, the Rays already lead 5-1 in the season series with the Yankees and are third in the division (AL East) with a 16-15 balance, just 1 win away from the same Evil Empire.

The Rays are also going very easy against the Angels, 8-3 and 7-3 so far. The starting pitcher for Game 3, with Glasnow starting in Game 1 and McClanahan starting in Game 2, will likely be a reliever, such as Andrew Kittredge. While options are possible, the fact is that Tampa are out of starters. However, debutant pitcher McClanahan did above and beyond in Game 2, as did his replacement after the 4th, 21-year-old Luis Patino.

If the Angels do have Ohtani as their starter, this is a great chance to win. Anaheim’s only starting pitcher showing a level worthy of a title contender. Furthermore, the Rays will be forced to experiment on the mound again, so the Angels offense just has to perform better than it did in the first two games of this series, too. We predict that the Angels will outplay Tampa after all.

• Angels to win at odds of about 2.10;
• Angels’ Individual Total Over 4 for 2.50;
• Total Over 8 for about 1.90.