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The Chicago White Sox head west to face the Los Angeles Angels. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a White Sox-Angels prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
Yesterday it was a 2-1 victory for the Angels. Dylan Cease pitched great for the White Sox. He went six innings, striking out ten and giving up just one run. That one run was a Shohei Ohtani solo shot in the fourth. The home run was the 26th of the season for him, which gives him the lead in the majors. The White Sox did start with the lead, with a Luis Robert Jr. home run in the first, but Reid Detmers settled in to allow just one more hit in seven innings and strike out ten. In the bottom of the ninth, still tied at one, Mike Trout scored on a wild pitch to send the home fans home happy.
Here are the White Sox-Angels MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: White Sox-Angels Odds
Chicago White Sox: +1.5 (-115)
Los Angeles Angels: -1.5 (-104)
Over: 8 (-122)
Under: 8 (+100)
How To Watch White Sox vs. Angels
TV: NBCSCH/BSW
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 9:38 PM ET/ 6:38 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The White Sox Could Cover The Spread
The White Sox are struggling this year, sitting on the outside of the playoff picture looking in and well below .500 on the season. Much of this is due to a substandard offense. They are 22nd in the majors in runs scored this year, while also sitting 22nd in batting average and 23rd in slugging. The biggest area of weakness is their on-base percentage. At .292 this year, they are currently last in the majors. Much of that is due to their high strikeout rate. The White Sox are 18th in strikeout percentage at 23%. They are also 25th in the majors in BABIP, which is the batting average when balls are put into play.
The hottest bat on the team as of late has belonged to Luis Robert Jr. He is hitting .305 on the month with nine home runs and 13 RBIs. Three of the home runs came in a two-game span against the Red Sox over the weekend as he hit .417 in the series. Yesterday, he kept it going as he went two for four with a home run. That gives Robert home runs in three straight games. Robert has had some strikeout issues this month though. He has struck out 30 times this month and went through a streak where he struck out 11 times in just four games. That seems to be behind him though. Since then he has struck out just three times in six games.
Starting today for the White Sox will be Michael Kopech. Kopech may be on the trading block like fellow starters Lance Lynn and Lucas Gioloito. Right now his focus is to grab his fourth win of the season. So far this year he is 3-6 with a 4.06 ERA. He has been solid this month. He has pitched 20.1 innings giving up just six runs and striking out 11. Still, even with his 2.66 ERA, he is not getting a ton of run support, and the result is an 0-1 record on the month. He has also seen a high pitch count early in his last three starts. He has been over 80 pitches in under five innings in each of them.
Why The Angels Could Cover The Spread
The Angels' offense is one of the tops in the majors so far this year. They are sixth in the majors in runs scored, fourth in slugging, ninth in batting average, and 5th in on-base percentage so far this year. They are led by Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is doing it all for the Angels this year, earning himself a massive future payday. Phtani leads the team in batting average at .297, home runs at 26, and RBIs at 62. His batting average is top 15 in the league, while his home run total and RBI total lead the league. Those numbers alone would be good enough for MVP consideration, but he has been a great pitcher as well.
Ohtani will be on the mound for this game. He is 6-3 on the season with a 3.13 ERA and 117 strikeouts. This month he has been solid, pitching 24 innings and giving up 11 runs, ten of them earned. Still, he has taken two losses in the month. The first was at Houston to start the month where he went six innings, giving up five runs, four earned, to take the loss. The other loss was seven innings of work with 12 strikeouts, but he gave up a solo home run and the Angels failed to score, so he took the loss.
While Ohtani is the leader of the offense, Hunter Renfroe has also been playing great. He is hitting .288 this month with seven doubles and two home runs. He has driven in eight while scoring six times. The bulk of that came over the weekend in Colorado. He went seven for 14 in the series, driving in four runs and scoring four times. Renfroe also hits better at home. His batting average is nearly 50 points higher at home than on the road. Also coming in hot is Taylor Ward. He is batting .280 on the month with ten RBIS, three home runs, and five doubles. He has also scored 15 times this month. Last night broke a three-game streak of him having two or more hits in a game.
Final White Sox-Angels Prediction & Pick
The Angels not only have the better offense, but they also have the better pitcher in this one. Betting against Ohtani is not normally a good decision. The Angels are 10-5 when he started this year, and in those ten wins, they have covered 1.5 runs in six of them. The White Sox have done a solid job covering spreads this year though. They are 40-39 against the spread on the season. Conversely, the Angels are 39-40. With all that in mind, take the better squad. That is the Angels who will cover this one.
Final White Sox-Angels Prediction & Pick: Angels -1.5 (-104)
