The Los Angeles Dodgers will close out their three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. While it’s not really a battle for Los Angeles, these two are interleague rivals and do share a city in name despite no being exactly geographically correct. The rivalry makes it a fun matchup for these west coast teams. The Dodgers will try and put the nail in the coffin to the Angel’s slimmest of postseason hopes while the Angels may be nothing more than spoilers for teams like the Dodgers at this point.
First pitch for the game between the Dodgers and Angels is scheduled for Sun, at 8:05 p.m. ET at Angel Stadium. The matchup will be shown on ESPN.
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Odds Analysis
These two teams may be from the same area, but they’re headed in different directions.
The Dodgers are on the rise. They’re 31-13 in their last 44 games and are 21-9 since the start of June. That’s more than just a hot streak. They’ve overcome their slow start and are back in the thick of the NL West.
The Angels, on the other hand, are 31-40 since April 14. They’ve been a below-.500 team for most of the season and have been particularly bad lately, losing eight of 11 with two of those three wins coming against the Orioles which hardly counts as a win at all.
Health aside, the biggest different between these teams right now is the offense. The Dodgers’ offense has been good top-to-bottom while the Angels have little around Mike Trout.
Trout, of course, is hitting. He’s got a 200 OPS+, but even with him producing like two players, it’s not enough. He’s got a .310/.456/.627 slash line. He’s gotten on almost half of the time, but scored just 67 times. He’s also only driven in 49 as a result of those on base for him.
Since coming off the DL, Kole Calhoun’s bat is finally waking up. In 15 games, he’s hitting .306 with four homers, but little else is going right.
For the Dodgers, everyone seems to be raking. Justin Turner has a .414 OBP in his last 23 games. Joc Pederson has 10 homers in his last 24 games and a 1.114 OPS in that time.
Yasiel Puig, Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Matt Kemp, Enrique Hernandez and so many others are all hitting exceptionally well right now. When one player falters the rest pick him up.
One player that hasn’t been faltering, however, is Max Muncy. From minor league journeyman to legend, Muncy is leading the Dodgers in WAR. He’s hitting .280 with 20 homers in 189 at bats. He’s got a 186 OPS+ this year and has hit .329 with 11 homers in his last 82 at bats.
Probable Pitchers
Alex Wood may not be the biggest name in the Dodgers’ rotation, but he’s throwing the ball as well as anyone right now.
He’s the only starter to make 17 starts to this point and has a team leading 93.2 innings. He’s been durable this season and lately, he’s been really good, too.
He’s 5-5 with a 3.84 ERA and 1.153 WHIP overall and has a solid 3.38 FIP and 5.25 strikeout to walk ratio. He makes the opposition work his way on base and is stingy with the walks. That’s generally a good thing, but sometimes he can be in the zone too much and get hammered. That, however, hasn’t happened recently.
In Wood’s most recent start, he lasted six innings, allowing one run against the Pirates and has now thrown three straight quality starts. Roberts can sometimes have a quick hook on him, but over his last five games, he’s allowed two or fewer earned runs. His last four starts in particular have been very good as he’s lowered his ERA from 4.43 to 3.84 in that span.
The Angels haven’t announced their starters for the series and have recently shuffled around their rotation as they’re battling injuries, it’s hard to know where they’ll go for the start.
Andrew Heaney is a possibility. He’ll be on normal rest and the southpaw has been one of the team’s better arms. Felix Pena is another option.
Pena is 1-0 with a 3.71 in 17 big league innings and has made three starts and a couple relief appearances. He’s been good, but it’s been a small sample size.
As for Heaney, he’s just 4-6, but has 3.94 ERA and 1.191 WHIP in 89 innings spread over 15 starts.
Heaney went seven strong against the Mariners in his last start. He allowed three runs, but struck out 10 while only giving up five hits. That was a nice bounce back game for Heaney after an abbreviated 3.1 inning showing against the Red Sox the start before.
Live Betting
The Angels will try to get to Wood, but if they can’t, they’ll look to drive up the pitch count and get him out of the game early. Wood doesn’t typically throw a ton of pitches.
The Dodgers’ bullpen is its Achilles Heel. The pen has a 3.92 ERA which is right in line with the Angels, but Los Angeles’ pen is riddled with injuries. Josh Fields, Pedro Baez, and Tony Cingrani are all on the DL. That leaves Kenley Jansen, Scott Alexander and Daniel Hudson with little else.
The Dodgers did beef up their bullpen recently with the acquisition of Dylan Floro and Zach Neal from the Reds. Both have ties to the Dodgers already and neither are a big name acquisition, but both provide a bit more depth, something L.A. was missing.
For the Angels, the Blake Parker has been good enough filling in as the closer and others like Cam Bedroisian and Jose Alvarez are good, but they’re not dominant.
Both teams can be beat in the middle innings if the offense can get it done.
MLB Pick
The Angels team is falling apart. The pitching is getting hurt—as most predicted—and the offense has stalled outside of Mike Trout.
While Shohei Ohtani is back, at least as a hitter, that’s a desperation move as the team continues its skid. This hasn’t been a good team for a while and the Dodgers have been one of the game’s best teams for a while now. Those trends don’t bode well for the Angels.
Look for the Angels to struggle to score against Wood who has been pitching very well. Wood may give up a couple runs, but will go deep enough to allow Dave Roberts to mix and match his way to Kenley Jansen in the ninth to get the save.
MLB Odds: Dodgers 6, Angels 3
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