Friday Night baseball and we will see the Los Angeles Angels travel East to take on the New York Yankees in game 1 of their 3 game set. The game is scheduled for a 7:05 (ET) pm start time and it will be televised live on Fox Sports West (Los Angeles) and YES (New York). Currently the odds have the New York favored at -125, while Los Angeles is dogs of +118. The total for the game sits at 8.5 runs.
Free Analysis: Two titans in the American League will begin a three-game set to begin baseball after the All-Star break when the Angels travel cross country to face the Yankees. The Angels stumbled badly out of the gates, winning just six of their first 20 games, but rebounded nicely and went into the break at 48-38. Still, they are just 5-5 in their past 10 games, despite being favored in each of those. The call up of outfielder Mike Trout changed the team's season. The 20-year- old was not only the league's best rookie through the first half of the season, but he may have been the AL MVP. Trout leads the AL with a .343 average, has 12 home runs, 15 doubles, 40 RBI and 57 runs scored to go along with 26 stolen bases, while he also played Gold Glove-caliber defense. Heading to the hill for the Angels tonight will be lefty C.J. Wilson, who lost his final start before the break. Wilson was beaten by Baltimore last Friday, as he allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings to fall to 9-5 on the year to go along with a 2.43 ERA.Wilson beat the Yankees earlier in the season and is 1-1 with a 3.81 ERA in 5 regular season starts vs the Yanks. Wilson has been exceptional on the road this season, going 6-2 with a 2.01 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, leading his team to nine wins in 11 away starts. The Yankees went into the break on quite a roll, going 23-8 (.742) to close out their first half of the season. Robinson Cano should expect a warmer welcome this evening than he received in Kansas City at this past week's All-Star Game. Cano is a big reason why the Yankees are 41-25 since April 28 and a season- best 19 games over .500. The All-Star second baseman hit .313 in the first half with 20 home runs, 51 RBI and 57 runs scored. He also enters tonight's contest riding a 15-game hitting streak, during which he is batting .393 with five homers and 16 RBI. Getting the call for the Yanks tonight will be Japanese righty Hiroki Kuroda, who is 8-7 with a 3.50 ERA. Kuroda was not sharp in his final start before the break, as he allowed seven runs (six earned) to the Boston Red Sox over 5 2/3 innings. He also gave up 10 hits and was spotted a five-run first inning lead. However, he failed to hold the advantage, but escaped with a no-decision in his team's 10-8 win.Kuroda beat the Halos back on April 13 with eight scoreless innings and is 2-2 in four starts versus them with a 1.71 ERA. The Angels and Yanks have split the six meetings this season.
Free Pick: I like the Over in this one. I know both starters have been solid this year and Kuroda has good numbers vs the Halos, but I still see the offenses having a good showing tonight. The Angels offense is really picking up as they have averaged 4.8 rpg in their last 10 games and on the road they put up 4.6 rpg, compared to just 4.2 rpg at home. CJ Wilson is on the mound for the Halos and he does have a 2.43 ERA overall, but pitching has been a problem for the Halos of late as they have allowed 5.5 rpg in their last 10 games, and their starters have a 6.14 ERA over that stretch as well. The Yanks come in averaging 5.4 rpg in their last 10 games overall and they average 4.6 rpg at home. Pitching has been a problem for the Yanks of late, as they have allowed 5.1 rpg in their last 10 games, while their solid bullpen has an ERA of 5.34 over that stretch. Hiroki does have a 1.71 ERA in 4 career starts vs the Angels and a 2.56 ERA at home on the year, but I feel the Halos offense will continue to hit well and get their fair share tonight, while the Yanks will get no less than 4 runs of their own. I look for at least 10 runs in this one.
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