The Indians will try to bounce back after dropping the first of a three-game set with the Angels on Monday. Let’s analyze this Tuesday night matchup between these American League rivals and keep cashing our MLB picks!
Tuesday, May 18, 2021 – 9:38 PM EDT at Angel Stadium
The statistics tell us that when the Cleveland Indians score four or more runs, they are a virtual lock to win the game. But variance also plays a role in statistical analysis and last night those numbers told a different story because for only the second time over the last 20 games in which the Indians have plated four or more, they lost. It was a difficult defeat to be sure as Cleveland is now in the midst of a four-game slump and was hoping to shake free of their shame spiral with a visit to Anaheim. After all, the Indians had won their last eight consecutive meetings with the Angels and a win was just what they needed to stop the bleeding on this most recent road trip.
The Indians 6’8” southpaw, Sam Hentges, was battered early by the LA lineup, surrendering six runs before being chased in the second inning. The silver lining for the Indians was their bullpen, as they allowed just one run over the remaining six-plus innings. "His (Hentges) command was tough off the bat. I think he ran the count full on the first six hitters. That's a hard way to pitch and be successful," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. The status of starting center fielder, Jordan Luplow, is uncertain after he appeared to sprain his ankle while running out a ground ball in the third inning of last night’s loss to the Angels. Luplow never returned to action.
Los Angeles checks into this game with an 18-22 record, trailing the Oakland Athletics by six games. And while the season is still young with plenty of road ahead, it isn’t too early for Angels fans to begin gnashing their teeth just a bit about a lineup that features some of the game's most feared hitters yet cannot seem to take flight. The Angels are a middling 13th in runs scored and rank sixth in team batting average but it is their woeful pitching that has landed them in the cellar of the AL West. Entering tonight’s game, the Angels have the league’s worst team ERA with a 5.29 and the 29th ranked WHIP at 1.46, above only the Colorado Rockies.
Last night was a mixed bag. Although Los Angeles got the win and Shohei Ohtani crushed his league-leading 13th dinger, the flip side was watching Mike Trout limp his way off the field in the first inning after straining his right calf. His status is unknown at the time of this early Tuesday morning writing.
Twenty-six-year-old right-hander Zach Plesac (3-3, 3.56 ERA, 0.96 WHIP) will take the bump for the Indians while southpaw Andrew Heaney (1-3, 4.75 ERA, 1.14 WHIP) will do the honors for the Angels. The MLB odds at all of the best online betting sites are revealing the Angels as anywhere between a -124 and -140 home favorite depending on where you shop. The long and short of this matchup is that the Indians are too good to be losing this long. They also have a white-hot hurler in Zach Plesac chucking for them this evening. Plesac has been virtually untouchable in the month of May, allowing just two runs over 21 plus innings and three starts.
Conversely, Angels’ pitcher, Andrew Heaney, is trying to recover after getting thumped in his last outing that resulted in a 9-1 road loss to Houston in which he allowed five runs on nine hits over five-plus innings of work. Lastly, the oddsmakers are giving us too much value on an Indians club that will take advantage of a dismal Angels bullpen if Heaney falters. Oh, and here are a few more reasons to back the live road pup in this one.
MLB Pick: Indians +125 at Intertops