Written By: The Persian
The Los Angeles Dodgers tangle in a rare late-season series against the Los Angeles Angels. The two teams meet Wednesday in the finale of a brief-two game set inside Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. They toss out the first pitch at 9:38 pm. The Dodgers will be heading to the postseason, while the Angels will again miss out on the playoffs.
Bookmaker has installed the Dodgers - 190 ML.
The Dodgers have been one of the best and most consistent teams in the majors this season, and it looked like they were going to run away with the NL West early on. That has not been the case for the last month or so, as the upstart San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks have been nipping at their heels.
Los Angeles has one of the more dynamic offenses and lineups in the National League, and it can score runs in bunches. It is going to be a dangerous team once the playoffs begin, and it knows that anything less than a World Series appearance would be a major disappointment.
On offense, the Dodgers are led by several key players, including 29-year-old catcher Will Smith, who has hit 17 home runs this season while batting .247. The Dodgers have hit 199 home runs, and they are a team that loves the long ball.
They will send out hurler Bobby Miller, who steps on the hill with a record of 2-3 to go along with an ERA of 7.25.
The Angels have had a terrible season again and are buried in last place in the AL West standings. There are almost 30 games under .500 in the season, and they have many questions that will need to be answered once the season ends, including what they will do with some aging veterans who are no longer stars.
They have struggled to score runs all season long and are -127 when it comes to run differential, which is one of the worst stats in the majors. During this brutal campaign, they have relied on journeymen veterans like Taylor Ward to help with their offense.
The 30-year-old has cracked 19 home runs this season while driving in 61 runs to go along with an average of .240 on the season.
They will hand the ball over to Griffin Canning to see if he can slow down the Dodger's hot hitters. He takes the mound in this one with a mark of 4-12 and an ERA of 5.19 on the season. He has dropped two of his last three decisions and needs to get into a groove early on, or he could be pulled after a couple of innings.
The Angels are 3-2 in their last five games and 4-1 in their last five games against the spread too. They are a solid 36-31 in their road games against the spread. The totals have gone over in two out of their last five games, and the totals have gone over in 33 out of their last 70 games at home. The Dodgers are 4-1 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the spread. The totals have gone over in five out of their last five games.
