The Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels look for some separation in the crowded American League wild card race while still keeping an eye on a division title. The Angels give the ball to their de facto ace Garrett Richards, who stopped the team’s six-game losing streak last time out. The Angels respond well with Richards on the bump winning eight of his 10 home starts this season.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The wild card race in the American League is a mess and both the Orioles and Angels are right in the middle of it. They are also staring down first place in their respective divisions making this series huge. The Angels may have turned their season around with an inspiring comeback win Wednesday over Cleveland. The Halos were on the verge of dropping their second straight game to the Indians having scraped together one run and five hits in 20 innings against a stingy pitching staff. The Rally Monkey was out and LA rallied for three runs in the ninth-inning to walk-off with a 4-3 win, taking two of three after a six-game slide dropped them behind Houston in the AL West. The Angels are 5-1 in the last six starts made by Garret Richards at the Big A and 8-2 on the season with him on the Angel Stadium hill.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Ubaldo Jimenez (8-7, 4.04 ERA) served up six runs in 4.2 innings in a loss to the Tigers on Sunday. He’s struggled mightily since the start of July going 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA in six starts while surrendering seven home runs over 30.2 innings.
Jimenez pitched will against the Angels on May 16 giving up two runs in seven innings but suffered his fifth loss in as many career starts against them and owns a lofty 5.34 ERA over 32 innings.
Garrett Richards (11-8, 3.46 ERA) helped end the Angels’ six-game losing streak in his last start going 7.1 innings and tying a career-high with 11 strikeouts against the Indians. He was spotless after allowing three first-inning runs and his mates rewarded him with a comeback. Richards is stellar at home going 7-2 with a 2.36 ERA and .174 opponent’s batting average over 10 starts.
Richards looks for his first career victory against the O’s when he makes his fourth start against them. He’s 0-3 in seven previous appearances, three of which were starts, including an impressive 7.2-inning stint when he allowed just five hits and two runs in a 3-0 loss on May 17.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“It’s been a process. When you get new offensive guys you get a spring, usually, to work with them. We’re right in the middle of a race. As soon as we can jell together and start playing as a team, the sooner the better. But it’s a good group of guys.” – Angels outfielder Kole Calhoun on working with several players acquired at the trade deadline
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
The Angels have had a whacky season off the field and a recent report that teammates are not happy with pitcher C.J. Wilson and his decision to shut it down for the year with an apparent elbow injury makes it even whackier. You’d think the organization would stand by their pitcher who claims he has an injury and try to get help for the guy. But this is the same club that banished Josh Hamilton after a messy relapse and then let GM Jerry Dipoto walk when he didn’t get his way. Even in our instant information age, certain things stay behind closed doors. We don’t really know what’s going on, but it’s another bizarre story out of Angels camp. Either way, the Halos don’t need another PR mess on their hands and if they want to respect Wilson’s career they should shut him down. If not, this situation has the potential to get a lot messier.
PROP TALK
Garrett Richards has surrendered four of his 12 home runs in the last three games, a concerning sign for the Angels and manager Mike Scioscia. O’s slugger Chris Davis is on a home run binge, even more of a concern for the Halos. Davis launched a grand slam – his sixth career – in the 11th inning to lead the O’s to a win at Oakland on Wednesday. It was his sixth homer in nine games and 28th of the season. Davis also has 19 RBIs in that span and is the AL leader with 79.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Garrett Richards is one of the best young pitchers in baseball and has been the Angels ace for two seasons. He’s been handed the torch with Jered Weaver sliding into the latter stages of his career and both he and the team have responded. Richards will need to have another quality performance with an offense that suddenly lost its way. The Angels entered the ninth inning Wednesday with a .192 team batting average since July 28 and had one run over their past 22 innings. Things are likely to get better facing Ubaldo Jimenez, who’s allowed 32 hits and 22 runs over his last 23.2 innings.
Los Angeles 5, Baltimore 3
The MLB lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker’s live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the Baltimore Orioles versus the Los Angeles Angels will commence Saturday, August 8, 2015, at 9:05 p.m. ET at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. You can watch the contest live on the MLB Network.
