The battle for Los Angeles concludes tonight as the Dodgers battle the Angels for the third game in a row. Shockingly, the little brother pulled off upsets in each of the first two contests as the Angels took 7-4 and 7-6 victories, so they enter this contest with full intentions of completing the sweep.
Here’s an Angels vs. Dodgers prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Wednesday night.
Angels vs. Dodgers prediction, preview
The Angels may be 11-13 since the All-Star Game, but they’re showing plenty of fight in this series against a top World Series contender and have some surprisingly good stats at the plate. The Halos’ 111 runs since the ASG rank 12th and their .732 OPS falls 14th among all teams. While they’re striking out at a high rate and haven’t hit particularly well for average at just .236, they’ve produced on the scorecard and bashed 33 homers, tied for 10th-most. The offensive production has given this L.A. squad enough run support to hold their own against most teams, but they’re still a few games shy of the .500 mark and face a very difficult battle to climb in the AL West standings and Wild Card race.
The Dodgers probably entered this series thinking they’d bounce back, but they’ve now fallen to 10-13 since the ASG and 4-6 over their last 10 games. No team is immune to slumps at the plate and L.A.’s big brother is finding that out firsthand. After a very strong first two-thirds of the season, the batting order now finds itself in a dry spell. The Dodgers’ .764 OPS ranks sixth since the ASG and a .251 average falls eighth with 34 homers (seventh-most), but their 103 runs rank just 16th over that span. They’re vastly underperforming, especially with the pitching staff seventh in ERA over the same sample. The slide now creates some serious issues as the San Diego Padres sit tied for the NL West lead, so winning becomes more important than ever down the stretch.
The battle between starters tonight sees two-way star Shohei Ohtani (2.37 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 25 SO) continue working his way back to a full workload — he just threw four innings in his last start, his longest appearance of the season. Ohtani faces Kyle Hendricks (4.63 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 78 SO), who generally limits hard contact quite well and doesn’t walk many batters.
Angels vs. Dodgers pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Dodgers as strong favorites in Wednesday’s game with -200 Moneyline odds. The Angels are listed at +167 on the Moneyline with the run total set at 9.5.
Taking the Angels to win at +167 offers nice value, but they face a tough battle against Ohtani on the mound and may not see much production on the scoreboard until the later innings. It also feels like the Dodgers are bound to bounce back, but they’re not the most appealing option on the Moneyline thanks to the odds. These game lines are a smidge scary, but the Dodgers’ run line makes some sense because their offense has still reached base and put the ball in play — they’re just not sending runners home enough to score at an elite level right now.
All things considered, I’ll be taking Dodgers -1.5 tonight since I don’t trust this Angels bullpen to hang around in the later stages. The Halos’ bullpen throws to the tune of a 4.85 ERA and 1.43 WHIP, both the fourth-worst marks of any team, and they’ve conceded an MLB-worst 72 homers on the year. The Dodgers can’t keep losing forever, so I fully expect them to start snapping out of this cold streak on Wednesday.
Best bet: LA Dodgers -1.5 (+120)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
