The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the MLB betting favorites as they start a three-game interleague series versus the Cincinnati Reds tonight at 10:05 PM (ET) at the Angel Stadium. Here are the odds for fans who bet on baseball:
Reds +1½ (-160) 8 (-120) +138
Angels -1½ (+140) 8 (EV) -148
The Halos won their second consecutive series versus a team in the playoff race when they beat the Detroit Tigers 5-0 yesterday. Infielder Jefry Marte broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run in the fifth inning, while two sacrifice flies in the sixth allowed Mike Trout and Albert Pujols to score. Nick Buss wrapped up the inning – and the final score – with a RBI double. Angels starter Tyler Skaggs threw six scoreless innings. This is the second time this season that Marte homers off his former teammate Anibal Sanchez. The Halos are 9-16 in August and are last in the American League West division with a 56-74 (.431%) record, 20.5 games behind the Texas Rangers.
The Reds, on the other hand, took an 11-2 beating from the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday. Cincinnati starter Homer Bailey did not get past the first inning, in which he allowed four runs – three earned – on five hits to pick up his third loss of the 2016 season. Yasmany Thomas rounded up the score with a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the sixth. Brandon Phillips and Scott Schebler gave Reds MLB betting fans a bit of hope with a home run each, the ninth of the season for Phillips and the seventh for Schebler. It was the fifth time the Reds hit back-to-back homers in 2016. Alas, it was to no avail. The Reds are 13-12 in August and find themselves at the bottom of the National League Central Division with a 55-74 (.426%) record, 27 games behind the Chicago Cubs.
The Angels will start Matt Shoemaker (8-13, 3.98 ERA) tonight, and the right-hander will attempt to win a season-high third consecutive start. Shoemaker threw six scoreless innings on August 24th and kept the Toronto Blue Jays to three hits and a walk. Cincinnati MLB betting fans should not fret just yet, though, because Shoemaker has nothing on tonight’s Reds starter Dan Straily (10-6, 3.57 ERA). The righty has pitched nine quality starts in his last 10 turns on the mound – most recently pitching six scoreless innings versus the Texas Rangers on August 23rd –, and is 6-0 in his eight starts since the mid-season break with a 1.98 ERA. The Reds have won all of those eight games. Straily has a 6.69 ERA in seven career starts versus the Angels. MLB betting fans might also like to know that this will be the Cincinnati outfit’s first visit to the Angel Stadium of Anaheim since 2002, a game which the Halos won 7-4. Moreover, this will be the first time these teams will meet since the first-ever Opening Day Interleague game in 2013. The Reds won the series 2-1 on that occasion.
