Tuesday night both the Royals and Angels will be sending starting rookie pitchers to the mound. See who holds the advantage in the game as L.A. has opened up a -176 favorite with the total at 9. We'll also look at Wednesday night’s game as well.
Will Smith and Garret
Richards
The Halos will face
prospect Will Smith, whom they traded to the Royals just two years ago for
Alberto Callaspo. Smith has been getting
roughed up pretty bad this year with an ERA of 7.97, giving up 26 hits in 20 IP
and already serving up 7 long balls. Smith is a young left hander, which means
trouble. The Angels are 12-1 in their last 13 games against left handed
pitching. In their last five games, they have torn the cover off the ball
against LHP, hitting .320, .381 OBP and averaging close to seven runs per nine
innings. Smith has his work cut out for him big time.
Garret Richards has a
3.52 ERA on the year but he, like his counterpart, has been getting
blasted of late. In his last 3 starts, Richards has a WHIP of 2.04 and a
6.68 ERA, giving up 22 hits in 16 IP. Alhough he is coming off his best start of
the season - an outing in which he went 7 scoreless innings - he had two back-to-back starts prior in which he didn't make it out of the 4th inning, giving up 19 hits and 12 runs combined. Richards has had major issues with his command,
walking a total of 23 batters on the year in just 43 IP while striking
out 30.
Angels are streaking
The Halos have pulled
themselves to just 5 games back of the division-leading Texas Rangers. Indeed, they just took 2 of 3 from Texas. If there ever was a time for a letdown, it was last night, against a
lowly Royals teams. K.C. got out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Angels battled back
to eventually make it 3-2. In the 7th, K.C.’s Brayan Pena had an RBI
single which tied the game at 3. Then with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th,
Alberto Callaspo singled, Maicer Izturis doubled, Peter Bourjos walked on 4
straight pitches, and then came pinch hitter Kendrys Morales. Morales rocketed a
2-1 pitch off the right field wall that cleared the bases and the Halos sealed
a 6-3 victory. The Angels easily could have had an emotional
letdown after their highly emotional series with Texas, but they battled
like champions and won in awesome fashion. This team is simply on fire right
now, hitting on all cylinders, with nothing getting in their way.
The Royals have lost
16 of their last 21, but with a huge price of -176, Richards' command
issues, and as good as the Angels are playing, we just can't lay that type of price
right now with these two pitchers on the mound. With the Angels averaging close to 7 runs per game against left handed
pitching in their last 10 games and LHP Will Smith's ERA of 7.97, your hard
pressed not to take the Halos, but when we step back and look at those numbers a
little more, an even more enticing play is the OVER. All the numbers here
point to a high scoring game in which Kansas City sends a rookie who has no
business being on the mound against the hottest team in baseball. The Angels
could cover the total on their own but, hey, even if they don't, starting pitcher
Garrett Richards is good for 3-4 runs, with his command issues. Kansas City has
a very good lineup and capable of producing on offense, that has not been an
issue for them and it won't be tonight.
We recommend playing
the OVER 9.
Wednesday's Game 3
In game 3 of this
series, the Angels will hold a significant advantage in that they will send
starting pitcher Jered Weaver to the hill. These may be some of the highest MLB odds we have seen this season and could be in the -275 range. Weaver, 12-1 on the
year, is completely untouchable when pitching in his home ballpark, where he is
7-0 with a 0.67 ERA in 53 IP. 0.67 ERA in 53 innings pitched! That is insane.
In those 53 innings, Jered has only given up 27 hits and a crazy 4 earned runs.
What's funny about those 4 runs, is that two of
them were home runs, but, hey, anytime you own a 0.67 ERA, no one is going to
argue about 2 of those 4 runs being HRs.
The Royals will send
Luke Hochevar to the mound, who is hitting his stride. Hochevar has always had
the skills but has never quite put things together; now, however, it looks like it's clicking in his head. Over his last 3 games, Hochevar has surrendered
just 14 hits with 1.06 WHIP, 3.18 ERA. On the year, Luke has struck out 88
batters compared to 33 walks. Those are pretty solid numbers for a starting
pitcher in the American League.
This will be a getaway day for Kansas City and the Halos will have the next day off, so we could
certainly see both teams rushing AB's and just wanting to get this series over
with and get on with the next phase of their season. The Angels will for sure
warrant a very high price, one we just won't be able to back, in what should be a very
low scoring, tight game. We like the UNDER in the final game of this series, as
Jered Weaver continues his dominance and the Angels looking forward toward
their off day, just wanting to get this game over quickly.