Home Sweet Home
The AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels own the best record in baseball. Their recent play at home has certainly helped.
Coming off a sweep of a potential playoff opponent, the Angels look to continue their home dominance when they open a two-game set against the league-worst Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Los Angeles -170 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 94% of bets for this game have been placed on Los Angeles -170 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Los Angeles (74-43) is 14-3 in its last 17 games at Angel Stadium, hitting .316 with 40 doubles, 22 homers and 111 runs while posting a 3.41 ERA. The bullpen has been key in that stretch, going 7-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 16 contests.
The relievers helped Los Angeles sweep a three-game weekend series from the New York Yankees, allowing one run and six hits in seven innings. Francisco Rodriguez, who leads the majors with 45 saves, struck out the side in the top of the ninth Sunday before Chone Figgins drove in the winning run of a 4-3 victory.
"If we can go six innings and keep us in the game, our seventh-, eighth- and ninth-inning guys are so good, you have to like our chances," Angels pitcher Joe Saunders told the team’s official Web site after starting Sunday. "Sure, we all want to go nine. But it’s pretty comforting if you go six and know those three guys are down there."
The Angels are among the leaders in the AL with six complete games.
One of them was thrown by Jon Garland (10-7, 4.28 ERA) in a 7-1 home win over Toronto on July 6. The right-hander, though, hasn’t been as effective lately, going 2-2 with a 6.51 ERA in five games since that outing.
Garland was charged with Los Angeles’ only loss in its last eight home games, yielding three runs and nine hits in seven innings of a 3-0 defeat to Baltimore last Tuesday.
He’s 0-2 with a 6.32 ERA in his last three starts against Seattle (45-73).
Garret Anderson is looking to extend his hitting streak to 17 games for the first time since Aug. 30-Sept. 17, 1999 – his longest since a career-high 28-game run from June 28-July 31, 1998.
Anderson’s 27-for-66 (.409) with three homers and 16 RBIs during his current run, but is only 3-for-36 in eight games against the Mariners this season.
The Angels have won six of nine matchups with Seattle, sweeping a road series from June 2-4. They’re 13-4 in the last 17 meetings at Angel Stadium.
The Mariners look to end their three-game slide Tuesday while moving past some controversy.
They lost 11-3 to AL East-leading Tampa Bay on Sunday, and Mariners manager Jim Riggleman pulled Jose Lopez from the lineup in the bottom of the fourth. The second baseman led off the second with a homer, but committed an error in covering second base on a steal in the next inning. That came after he had an error and struggled in the field during Saturday’s 8-7, 11-inning loss.
"I don’t know why, but I’ll say nothing right now," Lopez said of his removal.
Jarrod Washburn (5-11, 4.76) seeks to avoid losing a third consecutive outing after going 0-2 with a 7.59 ERA in his last two.
The left-hander is 4-4 with a 4.69 ERA in nine starts against the Angels, the team he played for in his first eight seasons. He’s lost both his starts against them this year, posting a 6.35 ERA.
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