Angels Stay Hot
With the best record in baseball and a recently bolstered lineup, the Los Angeles Angels appear to be on cruise control toward their fourth
AL West title in the last five years.
They may also have some say as to whether the New York Yankees will join them.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Los Angeles -120 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has
been set at 10 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 67% of bets for this game have been placed on Los Angeles -120 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
The
Yankees, who have nine of their 54 remaining games against the Angels,
will look to bounce back from a blowout loss to Los Angeles when the
clubs continue their four-game series in the Bronx on Friday.
The
red-hot Angels (68-40) finished a dominating July with Thursday’s 12-6
victory over the Yankees. Their 19-6 record last month was the best in
baseball.
They have won 13 of their last 15 games overall,
starting their current road trip with six wins in seven games to move
12 1/2 games ahead of second-place Texas in the West.
Thursday’s
win came after they swept three games from the Red Sox in Boston this
week, improving their league-best road record to 37-19. After getting
three-run home runs from Vladimir Guerrero, Juan Rivera and Torii
Hunter on Thursday, they’ve scored at least 10 runs four times since
the All-Star break after accomplishing the feat four times all season
before the break.
"You got athletes on this team," said Hunter,
who has five home runs and 14 RBIs on the road trip. "We’re hyenas. We
take advantage of the weak link. You make a mistake and we’re gone."
Mark
Teixeira – the slugger the Angels acquired in a trade from Atlanta on
Tuesday – got his first two hits with his new team Thursday, but their
offense hasn’t needed him lately. Los Angeles averaged 6.4 runs in July
after scoring 3.8 per game in June.
"If you looked at some of the
numbers guys were sitting on as we got into the middle of June, I think
it was very apparent that even their average year would mean a big
upswing in the second half of the year," Angels manager Mike Scioscia
said.
The Yankees (59-49) may have to win a few games against Los
Angeles if they hope to qualify for their 14th straight postseason.
After three more games this weekend, they play six games in Anaheim
between Aug. 8 and Sept. 10.
New York has stumbled lately, losing
four of five since winning its first eight games after the All-Star
break. Yankees pitchers have allowed 44 runs in their last five games.
The
skid started with Ponson on the mound, as he allowed seven runs
in four innings of Sunday’s 9-2 loss at Boston. Sidney Ponson (6-2, 4.59 ERA)
has now allowed 109 hits in 82 1-3 innings this year, as batters have a
.322 average against him.
"I don’t know what to say," Ponson said. "I pitched like crap."
Ponson
won his first seven career decisions against the Angels before losing
the last two. He hasn’t made a start against them since Aug. 2, 2005,
when he allowed eight runs – including a pair of two-run home runs by
Guerrero – in 5 1-3 innings while pitching for Baltimore.
For Los
Angeles, Ervin Santana will be trying to avoid losing a third straight
start for the first time this season. Santana gave up five runs in
five-plus innings at Baltimore on Sunday in the Angels’ 5-2 loss.
Ervin Santana
(11-5, 3.57) is still 8-2 with a 3.77 ERA on the road this season after
entering the year 10-21 with a 7.28 ERA in 39 career road starts.
In
his last visit to Yankee Stadium on July 8, 2007, Santana gave up nine
runs in three-plus innings in an 8-3 defeat, losing to New York for the
first time in five career starts.
The Angels are still 14-9 in
the Bronx since the beginning of the 2004 season. They’re the only AL
opponent with a winning record there over that span.
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