Los Angeles Angels vs Oakland A’s MLB Odds, Betting Preview 9/18/18

Tuesday evening MLB action and a pair of teams from the American League West will square off as the Los Angeles Angeles grapple with the Oakland A’s. This is game one of a three-game series from the Oakland Coliseum with a start time of 10:05 pm ET. The Angels have taken seven of the 13 meetings between these teams so far.    

Lines:  Los Angeles +128… Oakland -138… Over/Under 8.5

Pitching Matchup

Taking the hill for the Angels will be Tyler Skaggs and he has gone 8-8 with a 3.78 ERA in 21 starts on the year, including 5-3 with 3.43 ERA in 11 starts on the road. In his career, he has gone 12-11 with a 4.07 ERa in 37 starts on the road and 2-5 with a 5.34 ERA in 13 starts during Sept/ Oct. Skaggs is 2-5 with a 5.32 ERA in eight starts against the A’s in his career, including 2-3 with a 3.52 ERA in five starts here at the Coliseum.   

Liam Hendriks gets the nod for the A’s and he has gone 0-1 with a 5.60 ERA in 19 games (five starts) on the year, including 0-1 with a 2.61 ERA in nine games (three starts) here at home. Hendriks has pitched just 5.2 innings in his five starts as the A’s have used him as an opener. In his career, he is 3-15 with a 5.86 ERA in 39 starts, while against the Angels he has gone 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 27 games (one start).

A Look At The Angels

The Los Angeles Angels are hovering around .500 but they are not playing all that well as they come in having lost three of their last four games. They just haven’t had a good season and are currently 20 games out of first in the American League West. They have a chance to play spoiler in this series as the A’s are in a fight for the top spot in the AL Wildcard race. The offense has been the biggest issue for the Angels of late as they have averaged just 2.88 rpg over their last eight games. They have won seven of the 13 games between these teams this year, so they have a chance of playing well.

They enter off a 4-3 home win over the Mariners and leading the offense was Justin Upton, who had a three-run homer. He now has gone deep 30 times on the year. Their other run in the game came on Kole Calhoun’s 19th homer of the year. The Angels are now 6th in the league in homers with 197. Jaime Barria got a no-decision after allowed three ERs on six hits and a walk in 5.0 innings of work. Grabbing the win was Taylor Cole and he is now 2-2 with a 2.93 ERA on the year, while Ty Buttrey picked up his 3rd save. The Halos have gone 37-38 on the road and they have averaged 4.59 rpg and have allowed 4.03 rpg in those games.     

A Look At The A’s

The Oakland A’s have a 6.5 game lead over the rays for the 2nd wildcard slot, but they would still like to take the top spot as they would give them home-field advantage in the wildcard game. They have not been great against the Angels this year, but they have to play well in this series as it could hurt their chances of catching the Yankees, who they trail by 1.5 games in the standings. The A’s also need to bounce back from a rough series in Tampa that saw them lose two of three games. This is a huge series for the A’s as they still have a lot to play for.  Despite their struggles in Tampa, they have won nine of their last 13 games, but are just 6-7 against the Halos this year.

They enter off a 5-4 loss to those Rays. The A’s trailed the game 5-0 heading to the 9th when Khris Davis made it interesting by crushing a grand slam. It was his 43rd round-tripper of the year, which leads the league. He also has 115 RBIs, which is 2nd in the league. Mike Fiers took the loss after allowing three ERs on four hits and three walks in just 4.0 innings of work. He is now at 12-7 with a 3.38 ERA on the year, including 5-1 with a 3.09 ERA in eight starts for the A’s. The A’s have gone 46-29 here at home and they have averaged 4.27 rpg and have allowed 3.80 rpg in those games.