Coming off of a weekend that included a 25-run outburst on Saturday, the Los Angeles Angels return home on Monday looking to keep hitting as they host the Chicago White Sox.
Chicago White Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels (-135, 8.5)
The way Reid Detmers has pitched for the Angels shows that sometimes wins and losses are not the best indicator of how someone is pitching as the Angels are just 4-9 in his starts this season and 2-7 in his last nine starts overall despite Detmers having allowed three runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts.
While Detmers has a 4.05 ERA, he enters having allowed just two total runs in his last three starts with a 3.27 fielding independent this season with 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
The biggest issue Detmers has had this season is giving out 3.5 walks per nine innings, but on Monday faces a White Sox team that is last in the league in percentage of at-bats that generate a walk and their 0.278 road on-base percentage is also last in the league.
This puts pressure on White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Cease to cool down the Angels’ bats. Cease has been at his best in June with two runs or fewer in all four of his starts this month with a 2.38 ERA and has allowed three runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts overall.
The season numbers for the White Sox bullpen are not pretty, ranking 26th in the league in bullpen ERA, but have been better recently, ranking 13th in this category the past 30 days. Meanwhile, the Angels have had one of the best bullpens in the league this season, ranking sixth in ERA.
The Angels’ offense is doing more damage on the road than at home this season, averaging just under 5.4 runs per game on the road and under 4.7 runs per game at home with a .246 home batting average compared to a .270 road batting average entering Sunday.
With the good recent form of both starting pitchers and Chicago’s inability to get on base away from home, Monday sets up to be a pitcher’s duel in Los Angeles.
The Play: White Sox vs. Angels Under 8.5
