The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels will close out their three-game series on Thursday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. The Angels won the series opener 4-3 on Tuesday and the teams were still playing as of press time on Wednesday. Let’s breakdown the teams and find out where to place our baseball bet.
Sanchez A True Ace
The Blue Jays will send right-hander Aaron Sanchez on top of the mound for the 7th time this season. The 26-year old from Barstow, California has looked like a true pitching ace this season with a record of 3-1 with an ERA of 2.32, a WHIP of 1.32 and BAA of .196 in a total of 31 innings of pitch work.
In his previous start, Sanchez delivered another impressive outing by allowing just one run ( no earned run) in five innings of work during a 7-1 win over the Oakland Athletics last April 27th. Sanchez has pitched a total of 14.1 innings against the Angles and has given up just five runs over that period. Albert Pujols is 2-6 against Sanchez while Kole Calhoun is 1-4 and Mike Trout 1-4.
Eric Sogard is hitting .395 with three home runs and 9 RBIs in 11 games played with the Blue Jays. Sogard has batted well against the Angels in his career at .295 with 15 RBIs in 52 career games. As a team, Toronto is 23rd in the Majors with 4.14 runs scored per game. Their pitching staff has an ERA of 3.36 which is 2nd best in the big leagues.
For the Angels, it will be Tyler Skaggs who gets the call to start for the fifth time this season. The 27-year old from Woodland Hills, California has allowed a total of 7 runs, including four home runs in 20 hits this season. Skaggs has also walked 5 batters and struck out 19 in 20.0 innings of pitching. Skaggs has a record of 2-2 this season with an ERA of 3.15, a WHIP of 1.25 and BAA of .267.
Skaggs had his best outing of the young season in his last start. He tossed five shutout innings against the Royals on three hits, three walks, and five strikeouts while getting the decision for his second win of the season. Skaggs has a career 2-2 record against the Blue Jays with an ERA of 4.11 in 30.2 innings of work. Teoscar Hernandez is 2-4 against Skaggs while Justin Smoak is 2-9 against the left-hander.
Mike Trout has struggled for the Angles with only two runs driven in his last 10 games. However, he has a 1.052 OPS on the season because of the walks he’s been given. Trout is batting .294 on the season with 16 RBIs and six home runs. The Angels are 17th in the big leagues with 4.67 runs per game. Their pitching staff has a 4.75 ERA which is good for 22 in the majors.
Who Wins?
Toronto is 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played. The Blue Jays are 4-1 SU in their last five games played on the road and are 6-2 SU against left-handed pitchers this season. The Angles are 5-5 SU in their last 10 games played. Los Angeles is 3-4 in their last seven games played at home and are 10-9 against right-handed pitchers this season. Toronto is also 9-10 as underdogs this season while LA is 10-9 as favorites.
The Blue Jays are 4-1 SU in their last five games, 7-1 SU in their last 8 games against the American League West and 11-4 SU in Sanchez’ last 11 starts. On the other hand, the Angles are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Thursday games and 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games against the AL East.
Aaron Sanchez has been impressive so far this season as he has limited Toronto’s opponents to two or fewer runs in five out of his first six starts of the season. Likewise, the Blue Jays have won in each of Sanchez’ last three starts. The LA Angels are stuck in the bottom of the AL West team standings and their pitching staff has allowed at least five runs in six out of their last 10 games played.
With better pitching, I’m picking the Toronto Blue Jays to beat the LA Angeles on 5/2/19.
Other Bet To Make
The under is 6-4 in Toronto’s last 10 games played. The total has gone over in three out of the last five games played by the Blue Jays. The total has gone over in seven out of the last 10 games played by the Angels. LA has seen the total go over in five out of their last seven home games. Head to head, the under is 5-4-1 in the last 10 games between these two teams.
Blue Jays
O 8.5 -105
Angels
U 8.5 -115
Odds from betonline.ag as of 5/02/19
Aaron Sanchez has allowed just one run in his last two starts and 14.1 innings pitched against the Angels, he has given up just a total of five runs. On the other hand, Tyler Skaggs has allowed two or fewer runs in three out of his four starts this season. The under is 5-01 in Skaggs’ last six starts overall while the under is 8-2-1 in Toronto’s last 11 games against a left-hander and 5-0 in their last five games overall. I’m expecting a pitching duel of some kind on Thursday.
Prediction: Under 8.5