It is the middle game of the East Coast vs. West Coast series. We have two top attractions to draw your interest, the New York Yankees and Shohei Ohtani. The New York Yankees have been one the hottest teams in baseball and surged to the first Wild Card slot in the American League. The chances of catching Tampa Bay appear remote for the Pinstripes and instead they are trying to hold off Boston on the presumption they would meet for a Wild Card battle.
The Los Angeles Angels have hovered around .500 all season except when Shohei Ohtani pitches. Then, Joe Maddon’s team plays better and they are 12-7 when he’s their starting pitcher this season. Online sportsbooks like BookMaker (visit our BookMaker Review) the Halos listed as +175 home underdogs. Can the Angels beat the betting odds or is there another avenue to explore?
Tuesday, August 31, 2021 – 9:38 PM EDT at Angel Stadium of Anaheim
For Yankees fans, this is what you waited for. New York has won 13 of their last 16 games and while their ever-impatient fan base is shouting “Finally”, at least it happened. What changed? All the key batters started to hit and pitching staff as a whole contained opposing offenses. Aaron Judge was hitting all along and once he started getting better pitches to hit, his at-bats became even more productive.
Giancarlo Stanton found his balance in the batter’s box and calmed his movement and hits and homers followed. Though not hitting for the same average as the last couple of years, when DJ LeMahieu is on base, he seems to score almost every time. New York pitching held the team together even with all the injuries to the staff and they have moved to sixth in runs allowed at 4.0. Credit both the starters (8th in ERA) and bullpen (6th) for their success.
The team from Anaheim has been locked in fourth place in the AL West for some time and they are not going anywhere. Other than Ohtani highlights, this team is about as interesting as the latest Kardashian social media undertaking. As Maddon looks to next season, hopefully having Mike Trout for 150 games, he’ll be closely watching outfielders Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell.
These two are 23 and 22 respectively and should be the future. Thus far, Marsh looks and plays like a younger Charlie Blackmon (hair and beard), but doesn’t have the same pop with the bat. Adell has made tremendous strides after last year’s debut, when his horrific defense affected his offense. The pitching needs to be addressed on all levels and top rate pitching is needed. (See Tony Watson with Angels numbers and after his trade to the Giants. Striking.)
Jameson Taillon (8-4, 4.18 ERA) was fairly lousy for three months with a 5.54 ERA. In July, he found his rhythm and had a brilliant 1.16 ERA. That carried over into his first two starts in August, when he went in reverse. In Taillon’s last three starts his ERA is 7.07. What does manager Aaron Boone think he might get tonight? He’s hoping it’s not like the right-hander’s last start against the Halos on June 29, where he allowed five runs on nine hits (3 bombs) in five innings.
It was revealed Monday night Ohtani will not pitch tonight. He was hit in his pitching hand while swinging during the first inning of Saturday’s game against the Padres. Maddon reported he was still feeling soreness and it was determined it was best to give the righty a few more days to heal. Ohtani will remain in the lineup as the DH and he’ll be replaced by right-hander Jaime Barria (2-2, 5.56).
The news about Ohtani changed the outlook of this contest completely. With New York this large a favorite, having lost three straight and Taillon no longer locked in, we shift gears for MLB picks. Our attention moves to the total, which has jumped from 7.5 to 9.5.
Taillon is 10-2 OVER on the road and when we drill down further, that number improves to 8-1 OVER when the total is 8.5 to 10. Barria’s last three starts have all been OVER’s and those were on six days’ rest, not five like tonight. And, the Halos are on a 24-10 OVER run in August home games.
MLB Pick: OVER 9.5 (-110) at BookMaker (visit our BookMaker Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.