The Los Angeles Angels take on the Oakland Athletics in Game 2 of a day-night doubleheader. Check out our MLB odds series for our Angels Athletics prediction and pick.
Michael Lorenzen gets the start in Game 2 for the Angels, while Adam Oller takes the ball for the Athletics.
Michael Lorenzen has a 4.13 ERA. He was hit hard for five runs in 4 2/3 innings by the Nationals in his most recent start on May 7. The Astros roughed him up for four runs in 3 1/3 innings on April 18. In his other three starts, however, Lorenzen has been superb. In those three appearances, he has allowed just four runs in 20 1/3 innings. He pitched into the ninth inning in one of those starts. He hasn't been a star in this rotation, but he has given the Angels innings and reasonably good production, which tells part of the story of why the Angels are off to a great start this year.
Adam Oller has been shelled this season. In three appearances, Oller has pitched a total of just 9 2/3 innings. He has pitched into the fifth inning only once. He has allowed at least three runs in all three starts, which adds up to 13 runs total. If runs allowed are higher than the number of innings pitched, that's a pretty bad sign, to put it mildly. Making an Angels Athletics prediction should not be that complicated based on this information.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Angels-Athletics MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Angels-Athletics Odds
Los Angeles Angels: -1.5 (-102)
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-118)
Over: 8 (-106)
Under: 8 (-114)
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Why The Angels Could Cover the Spread
The Angels are rolling. They are one of the best teams in baseball. They shut out the Athletics on Friday night and limited them to one run in the first seven innings of Game 1 of this doubleheader (the Angels led 3-1 in the top of the eighth when this article was written). The pitching is the real reason the Halos are doing so well. We all know about Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, and we know that Tyler Wade is having a sensational year in Los Angeles, but the pitching depth, especially the bullpen, is the new feature for the Angels. This is what sabotaged previous seasons. Getting this part of the equation fixed means everything for L.A.
Joe Maddon is a much better manager when his relievers do the job. This is true for every manager, but the Angels are simply not cracking early in the season. We'll obviously see if this holds up into the summer, but for now, the Halos have a balanced and winning formula. Keep this in mind when thinking about an Angels Athletics pick.
Why The Athletics Could Cover the Spread
After being shut out on Friday and not scoring much on Saturday afternoon in Game 1 of this split-session day-night doubleheader, the A's are bound to score a little more against Michael Lorenzen, who is not a shutdown pitcher and is clearly vulnerable. The Angels are getting great efforts from their starting staff, but Lorenzen is not at the very forefront of this development. He is a more hittable pitcher than most of the Angels' other starters.
The Athletics have done a lot of losing recently. In baseball, these things tend to even out over the course of the season. The Angels are better, but the A's aren't going to stay down and dormant forever.
Final Angels-Athletics Prediction & Pick
If Lorenzen gets torched, the A's win, but as long as he limits damage — let's say two runs in five innings or three runs in six innings — the Angels have more than enough offense to win this game.
Final Angels-Athletics Prediction & Pick: Angels -1.5
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