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The Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays square off on Thursday with first pitch set for 1:10 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Tropicana Field in Saint Petersburg, FL and will be available to watch on ESPN+. Patrick Sandoval (4-8, 3.14 ERA) will start for the Angels with Drew Rasmussen (8-4, 2.82 ERA) on the mound for the Rays.
Los Angeles (52-72) lost five games in a row and will look to avoid a four-game sweep on Thursday afternoon. Sandoval made 20 starts this season and is coming off a complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts against the Detroit Tigers on Friday. The Angels score the sixth-fewest runs per game (3.7), and Shohei Ohtani leads the team in home runs (27) and RBI (72).
Tampa Bay (68-55) won five games in a row and will enter Thursday in the top American League Wild Card spot. Rasmussen will make start No. 22 of the season and is coming off an outing when he allowed two runs over 5.2 innings of work in a win over the Kansas City Royals. Tampa Bay ranks 21st in runs per game (4.2), and Randy Arozarena is the team’s top home run (17) and RBI (66) leader.
Angels vs. Rays
Pitchers: Patrick Sandoval vs. Drew Rasmussen
First pitch: 1:10 p.m. ET
Angels local broadcast: Bally Sports West
Rays local broadcast: Bally Sports Sun
Live stream: WatchESPN, ESPN app with an ESPN+ subscription
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Rays -1.5 (+130)
Run total: 7
Moneyline odds: Rays -175, Angels +150
Moneyline pick: Rays -175
This is one of the best pitching matchups of the day with two starters who have been fantastic in recent outings, but let’s side with Rasmussen in this spot. The Rays are playing well all over the field right now, and he allowed fewer than three earned runs in each of his last six starts. Tampa Bay has everything to play for down the stretch, and its success should continue on Thursday afternoon.
Player prop pick: Patrick Sandoval over 5.5 strikeouts (-145)
The Angels starter is putting up strong strikeout numbers this season with a 9.5 K/9, and Sandoval has a strong chance at getting to six K’s in this spot. The Rays strike out 8.8 times per game, which is the ninth most in the league.
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