The Phillies let a couple of glorious opportunities get away, but did some surprising late damage against Fernando Rodney and AJ Ramos to get the win as the Monday comp. My Tuesday free play is currently not lined, but I’ll be playing this game in the morning.
ANGELS (Skaggs) at ROYALS (Gee)
Take: ANGELS +104
I’m on Tyler Skaggs here. He’s finally healthy, and the talented lefty has been on fire down on the farm while rehabbing. The last two starts for Skaggs were pretty amazing. 12.2 innings, just two hits, no runs, with three walks and a mind boggling 26 K’s. Yeah, that was at AAA, but it’s not like guys at that level are automatic outs and that’s a strikeout rate that indicates Skaggs is more than ready to start firing at the big league level once again.
The Royals will send Dillon Gee to the hill, and while his numbers aren’t the worst I’ll see, they also aren’t particularly inspiring. Gee is the prototype for an end of the rotation filler. He’s occasionally capable of a really nice outings, but is simply more likely to be closer to mediocre.
The team form for these two entries also comes into play here. In spite of all their injuries, the Angels are hanging in there and have been winning games lately. At 44-55, their playoff hopes are pretty much shot but Mike Scioscia teams don’t quit and I like the way this squad is rolling right now.
The Royals are heading the opposite way. The magic of the last two seasons has worn off to some extent. KC has been a bad road team all season, but now they’re also starting to scuffle a bit at home, and they’re reeling to some extent presently. I’m not about to count the Royals out despite their current residence on the wrong side of the .500 plateau. But as of right now, they’re just not a very good baseball team.
The main focus here is Skaggs. Off the last two rehab starts, I think he’s go with material in his return to The Show, and I’ll be backing the Angels on Tuesday evening.
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