In professional sports, there are no prizes or glory that come with finishing in second. Most sports fans can remember who won the championship in any given year, but if you ask them who lost, and they might well have a tough time remembering. There is one sports where finishing second may well come with a very nice consolation prize, though, which would be in baseball, where teams in 2nd, and sometimes even 3rd, in the division might just do enough to land themselves a Wild Card berth in the postseason.
There is a lot of baseball still to be played this year, and while a Wild Card conversation right now is more than a little premature, it’s still a fun talk to have. Both the Oakland A’s and the LA Angels are within striking distance of the WC in the American League, so this is a series that does have some real benefits for the winner in terms of that race. It is the A’s who will be favored by 1 ½ on Tuesday night, with the run total for this one set at 8 ½.
Athletics vs Angels MLB Betting Spread, Analysis & Preview
- When: Tuesday, June 4 at 10:07 PM EST
- Where: Angel Stadium, Anaheim
- TV: FSW
- Radio: Oakland / Los Angeles
- Live Stream: MLB.tv
- Starting Pitchers: Montas Vs Canning
- MLB Odds: Athletics -1.5 (+155)
Why bet on the Oakland A’s?
It looked for a moment as though the Oakland A’s had turned their season around in a big way, going on an 8-game winning streak that lifted them all the way up to second in the AL West. They have come crashing back to earth with a rather serious thud, though, as they get the new week rolling after ending last week with 5 straight losses. Making matters worse was that all 5 of those losses came versus division foes.
They lost back to back games to the Angels before being swept in 3 games by the Houston Astros. All those losses came at home, too, so heading out on the road on the heels of such a bad stretch is not that great. The A’s are 11-15 SU on the season, but they are 8-6 ATS as a road dog. It will be Frankie Montas (6-2, 2.81 ERA) who starts this one.
Team Statistics
Offense:- Runs: 4.83
- Hits: 8.42
- Walks: 3.37
- Strike Outs: 7.75
- Runs: 4.46
- Hits: 8.25
- Walks: 3.54
- Strike Outs: 7.90
Why bet on the LA Angels?
The Angels are sitting 2 games below .500 at 29-31 and are now 11 ½ games off the pace being set by the Houston Astros at the top of the AL West. That aside, though, this is a team going through a decent run of form, winning 7 of their last 10 games to get within 2 ½ games of the final Wild Card spot in the AL. As we said earlier, it’s early to be having that conversation, but it’s that small gap that the Angels need to be focusing on rather than the huge one they are looking at in the division race.
The Angels took the last 2 meetings with the A’s, but they still trail the season series 4-3. They have gone 15-14 SU at home this season and are an impressive 7-2 ATS as a home dog. Griffin Canning (2-1, 3.06 ERA) gets the start here.
Team Statistics
Offense:- Runs: 5.02
- Hits: 8.80
- Walks: 3.78
- Strike Outs: 6.32
- Runs: 5.02
- Hits: 8.28
- Walks: 3.57
- Strike Outs: 8.72
Athletics vs Angels MLB Betting Trends
- Athletics are 0-5 SU in the last 5 games
- The total went OVER in 4 of the A’s 6 games
- Angels are 5-2 SU in the last 7 games
- The total went OVER in 6 of the Angels’ last 9 games
Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction for Athletics vs Angels
Only one of the 7 games in this series have been decided by a single run, with most of the rest being of the blowout variety. With that in mind, I like the Angels to keep this one close in a loss. The Angels ATS is my best pick here.
Oakland A’s 5 LA Angels 4
