Angels Look To Stay Hot
After disposing of the defending World Series champions in a three-game
weekend sweep, the Los Angeles Angels now get to play host to one of
the AL’s worst teams.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Los Angeles -200 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has
been set at 8.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 62% of bets for this game have been placed on Los Angeles -200 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Count All-Star Ervin Santana, though, among those who haven’t quite figured out the Cleveland Indians.
In
his first outing of the second half, Santana will try to pitch the
Angels to their sixth straight win on Monday while trying to avoid
falling to 0-6 in his career against the Indians.
Los Angeles
(60-38) has the best record in baseball, but hadn’t swept anyone at
home all season before the All-Star break. That changed this weekend,
when they outscored the defending champion Boston Red Sox 20-8 in a
three-game sweep.
The Angels capped the series on Sunday by
scoring three runs in the eighth inning to complete a 5-3,
come-from-behind win. It was their first three-game sweep of Boston in
seven years, but manager Mike Scioscia was quick to downplay the
achievement.
"We’ve got a long road ahead of us,” Scioscia said.
"We played well this weekend, (but) I don’t see any carry-over. The
season’s more than this weekend. We have to keep going."
Ervin Santana
(11-3, 3.34 ERA), one of three Angels to make the All-Star team – Joe
Saunders and Francisco Rodriguez were the others – had a strong final
outing before the break. when he pitched seven shutout innings,
striking out 10, in Los Angeles’ 4-1 win over Oakland on July 12.
"He’s
got the stuff to be one of the greatest pitchers in the AL," Rodriguez,
who recorded his major league-leading 40th save Sunday, told the
Angels’ official Web site.
One thing Santana has yet to do in his
four years in the majors is beat the Indians (43-54). The right-hander
is 0-5 with a 6.59 ERA in six career starts against Cleveland.
Cleveland
is tied with Kansas City for last place in the AL Central, but has
played its best baseball of the season since trading ace CC Sabathia to
Milwaukee on July 7.
The Indians have won six of their last
seven, including a four-game sweep of AL East-leading Tampa Bay before
the All-Star break and the final two games of their series at Seattle
over the weekend.
All-Star starter Cliff Lee pitched his second
complete game of the season Sunday, while Kelly Shoppach drove in four
runs in Cleveland’s 6-2 victory.
"If we take advantage of
opportunities, make pitches when we need to make pitches … we don’t
have to play extraordinary to win ball games," manager Eric Wedge told
the Indians’ official Web site. "We just have to play good baseball to
do that."
Former Angel Paul Byrd will be on the mound for
Cleveland looking to snap a personal five-game losing streak. Paul Byrd
(3-10, 5.47 ERA) hasn’t won since June 6, and is 0-5 with a 7.76 ERA in
his last six starts.
The 37-year-old right-hander is 0-2 with a
12.91 ERA in his last two starts in Anaheim, including a three-inning,
six-run effort in a 9-5 loss there April 9.
Vladimir Guerrero
homered in each of the Angels’ last two wins against Boston, and he’s
enjoyed facing Byrd in his career, batting .375 (9-for-24) with two
homers and eight RBIs.
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