Tuesday night baseball and we will see the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California. Free Pick to follow. First pitch is scheduled for a 10:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
Rays -109
Angels -101
Over/ Under: 7 U -125
This is game 2 of a 3 game series between these American League foes. The Angels tool game 1 of this series last night by a score of 7-3. The Halos have now won 5 games in a row and have closed to within 4 games of the Astros in the AL West. The Rays come in struggling as they have lost 7 of the last 9 games and have fallen to a game behind the Yankees in the AL East.
The Rays rank 26th in scoring (3.75 rpg), 19th in hitting (.245) and 16th in homers (48) while on the mound they are 5th in ERA (3.44) and 4th in WHIP (1.17). The Rays are 10-1 in Archer's last 11 road starts with the total set at 7.0-8.5 and 11-2 in his last 13 road starts, but 0-6 in their last 6 vs. the American League West.
The Angels rank 21st in scoring (4.00 rpg), 24th in hitting (.240) and 11th in homers (54), while on the mound they are 8th in ERA (3.58) and 6th in WHIP (1.20). The Angels are 6-0 in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a winning road record and 9-3 in their last 12 during game 2 of a series, but just 2-14 in Wilson's last 16 starts as an underdog.
Getting the ball for the Rays tonight will be Chris Archer, who is 5-4 with a solid 2.12 ERA in 11 starts this year overall, while on the road he has gone 3-1 with a 1.73 ERA. Chris has 4 career starts vs the Halos and he is 3-1 with a 3.63 ERA, while in 2 starts at Angel Stadium he is 1-1 with a 4.82 ERA.
Taking the hill for Los Angeles tonight will be CJ Wilson, who is 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA in 10 starts this year, while at home he has gone 2-1 with a 3.34 ERA in 5 starts. In 10 career starts he is 4-3 with a 4.18 ERA in those starts.
Pick: I know that Wilson is not great as a dog and that Archer has been very good on the road this year, but still this is 2 teams that are headed in opposite directions and i expect that to continue after this game. The Halos are putting together a nice run and it has started with the awakening of an offense that has scored 6.6 rpg in their last 5 games. The Rays are just 2-7 in their last 9 games and have scored just 28 rpg over that stretch. Wilson has struggled of late, but he does have a 2.15 ERA at night this year and I see him having a good showing vs this anemic Rays offense. I say the Angels get their 6th win in a row here.
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MLB Pitching Stats: DBF, Difficulty of Batters Faced
Pro handicappers Teddy Covers and Steve Fezzik talk about the difference between lazy stats and legit stats, telling you what you need to know about DBF or Difficulty of Batters Faced. This stat is a favorite among sabremetrics followers, who prefer this over stats looking at how a pitcher does versus a team when the team's rotation is constantly changing. Teddy sees the value in DBF, while Fezzik thinks some of the worst DBF performers like AJ Burnett are actually some of the best pitchers in baseball.