Houston Astros at Los Angeles Angels Betting Preview/Prop Picks
14 July 2022
The Houston Astros have a record of 57-30 this season and rank first in the AL West.
Tonight, they’ll try to add another strike to the win column with a win over the Los Angeles Angels. However, the Angels have put up quite the fight, beating the Astros 7-1 yesterday. With the series split at 1-1, Houston has one game left to win this series.
With tonight being the final game of the series, the Angels need to pull out all the stops. They have a record of 39-50 and are 22-24 at home this season.
The Astros play rather well on the road, with a record of 30-18 when traveling. Beating the Astros won’t be an easy task for Los Angeles, but coming off a win, they have the momentum. The question is, will it be enough?
Houston Astros: Getting past Detmers is the key to winning
There are a few things that the Astros have done really well this season. One of these things is winning games on the road. A 30-18 record when traveling is nothing to scoff at, even with yesterday’s loss.
To win this one, they’ll send out Framber Valdez, who is one of their best pitchers. Valdez has an 8-4 record with a 2.64 ERA, the perfect starter for tonight’s game.
Now, another problem for the Astros is Reid Detmers, who the Angels are starting. The Astros batters rank 16th in the league in terms of batting average at .241. Going against Detmers, they’ll need to do much better than they have this season.
Their poor batting was evident in the 7-1 loss yesterday. If the Astros can’t get it together at the plate, Valdez’s day won’t matter.
Los Angeles Angels: Angels need to get a fast start to win
It definitely helped the Angels that Shohei Ohtani was on the mound yesterday. However, we’d say the fast start at the plate is really what won the game.
The Angels were up 3-0 by the end of the second inning. By the end of the sixth, the score was already 7-1, basically handing them the lead. The way they did this was by getting a fast start over the Astros and their pitching.
Tonight, the Angels batters will have to face Framber Valdez, a tougher task. Still, we’ve seen in the past that the Angels can put together strong days at the plate. Reid Detmers, the Angels starting pitcher, also has his work cut out for him.
Detmers has a record of 2-3 this season with an ERA of 4.22. The good news is he has 51 strikeouts and has only allowed 45 hits.
Houston Astros at Los Angeles Angels Betting Pick
The Houston Astros come into this game as -162 favorites. After yesterday’s game, however, we can see there are a few flaws in the team.
The Angels are +138 tonight, providing better odds, and we think they’ll actually win this one. They did well at neutralizing the Astros yesterday, so we’ll take them again today.
Along with taking the Angels at +138, we’ll also add the over to our tickets. In Los Angeles’ last five games, the total has gone over four times.
In their last five games against Houston, the total has gone over four times as well. Seems like the over is definitely a sure bet in this one.
DunkelIndex Free Pick: Los Angeles Angels +138, OVER
Prop Picks
LA Angels (+105) OVER 3.5 Runs
LA is averaging 4.08 runs per 9 innings on offense, which ranks No. 25 in the league, with 1.22 HRs per 9 innings, which ranks No. 11. That average drops to 3.53 runs per 9 innings at home. Scores have gone OVER in five of the Angels’ last seven games versus the Astros.
With Dunkel predicting an LA victory by the score of 5-4, take the Angels (+105) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 3.5 runs against Houston.
Framber Valdez (-155) OVER 4.5 Hits Allowed
Valdez has allowed 80 hits in 109.0 innings pitched this season for an average of 6.6 hits per 9 innings. That average increases to 7.7 hits per 9 innings (50 hits in 58.2 IP) at night.
With Dunkel predicting an Angels win while going OVER their Vegas run total, take Valdez (-155) to finish OVER 4.5 hits allowed versus LA.
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