The first-place A’s and the surging Angels get together for a three-game AL West series in Oakland beginning Monday night. Both these teams are playing some good ball as of late, the Angels somewhat unexpectedly after getting rid of Albert Pujols. Lefty Sean Manaea takes his turn on the mound for the home team here against Dylan Bundy for the visitors. How are we playing this game with today’s free MLB pick?
MLB Betting Odds
Monday’s baseball betting lines opened Oakland and Manaea at around -150 over the Angels and Bundy, with an over/under of nine runs. Early betting action then dipped that line a dime, to -140, and that total to 8.5 and even to as low as 8 at BetOnline.
Angels-A’s MLB Betting Preview
Los Angeles just swept three games in Arizona over the weekend by scores of 6-5, 8-7, and 10-3. Just before that, the Angels swept three games at home from Kansas City. Going back a bit further, Los Angeles is 3-0-3 over its last six series and 14-5 over its previous 19 games.
At 32-31 overall, the Angels sit in third place in the AL West, six games division-leading Oakland. Los Angeles is also now just slightly behind pace playing against its season wins over/under of 83.5.
Meanwhile, Oakland took three of four games at home from the Royals over the weekend, winning Sunday’s series finale 6-3. Just before that, the A’s swept two games from the Diamondbacks, and just before that, they took two of three games in Colorado. Going back a bit further, Oakland is 4-0 over its last four series and 9-2 over its previous 11 games.
At 40-27 overall, the A’s lead the AL West by two games over second-place Houston, and they’re playing ahead of pace against their wins O/U of 86.5.
Oakland leads the season’s series with the Angels four games to three.
Monday’s Pitching Match-Up
This pitching match-up is a rematch of a game played three weeks ago in Anaheim, a 6-5 Angels come-from-behind victory.
Lefty Manaea is 7/13 on quality starts this season and three outs away from being four for his last four. Last Tuesday, he held the Diamondbacks scoreless on two hits through six innings of a 4-0 Oakland win. And over his last four starts, he’s allowed just two runs and 16 hits through 26 2/3 innings, with nine walks against 25 strikeouts.
The A’s are 10-3 with Manaea this season, 4-1 over his last five starts.
Over two starts already this season against the Angels, Manaea allowed two runs and ten hits through 11 2/3 innings, with 14 strikeouts. Oakland split those two games.
Bundy, by our strict standards, is 4/11 on quality starts this year but 0 for his last five. Last Monday, he held Kansas City to two runs and six hits through 5 2/3 innings of an 8-3 Los Angeles victory. But over his four starts previous to that, he got knocked around for 21 runs and 23 hits, including seven home runs, through just 15 1/3 innings.
The Angels are 4-7 with Bundy this season, and that’s about what they should be.
Over his last four starts against the A’s, three good efforts the previous year, and one poor one this season, Bundy allowed seven runs and 19 hits through 21 2/3 innings. Los Angeles won three of those four games.
Splits With the Sticks
The Angels are batting .245 against left-handed pitching this season, with a .326 team OBP and a .427 team slugging percentage. Los Angeles has also scored 63 runs over its last eight games.
The A’s are slashing .230/.314/.402 against right-handed pitching this season.
The Bullpens
The Los Angeles bullpen owns a 4.71 ERA this season, along with a 1.40 WHIP and a 2.22 K/BB ratio. Numbers like those lead us to rank this unit among the bottom half-dozen bullpens in Baseball right now.
The Oakland pen owns a 3.87 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, and a 2.40 K/BB ratio.
- Get more details: LAA/OAK 6/14/21 Matchup Stats
MLB Betting Trends
- The Angels are 15-16 on the road this season.
- The A’s are 22-18 at home this season.
- The Angels are 11-9 against left-handed starters this season.
- The A’s are 24-18 against right-handed starters this season.
Totals Report
Overs are 38-27 in Angels games this season.
Unders are 34-31 in A’s games this season.
Totals are split 20-20 in games played at the Oakland Coliseum this season.
Unders are 5-2 in Angels-A’s games this season.
Overs are a combined 13-10 with Manaea and Bundy this season.
