The Los Angeles Angels are looking to tread water for however long star outfielder Mike Trout is out of the lineup and will look to wrap up their series on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday with a win.
Los Angeles Angels vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (-135, 8)
Martin Perez gets the start on the mound for Pittsburgh, who’s allowed just two home runs in his seven starts this season, but is allowing plenty of base runners with seven strikeouts and 2.9 walks allowed per nine innings and opponents posting. .269 batting average against him.
Though Perez’s 3.15 ERA is still good, he enters Wednesday having allowed at least three runs in three of his past four starts and is backed up by a bullpen that entered Tuesday 13th in the league with a 3.76 ERA with both David Bednar and Aroldis Chapman posting ERAs above 4.90.
After beginning the season in the bullpen, the Angels give Jose Soriano his sixth start of the season with Soriano posting a 3.77 ERA, but a 4.68 fielding independent with 4.7 walks per nine innings allowed.
Soriano is backed up by a bullpen that entered Tuesday with a 5.17 ERA, which ranks 29th among the 30 MLB bullpens, and an offense that entered Tuesday ranked 20th in the league averaging four runs per game.
While Pittsburgh has had a tough time generating runs, as its 3.6 runs per game entering Tuesday was the second-fewest among National League teams, the struggles of Soriano with at least three runs allowed in four of his past six appearances will lead to an unexpected slugfest on Wednesday.
The Play: Angels vs. Pirates Over 8 Runs
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