The Los Angeles Angels will look to draw closer to American League West leader Texas tonight as the two rivals open a four game set in Arlington. This evening’s game one clash is scheduled to get underway at 7:00pm ET at Ranger Ballpark; it will be broadcast live on ESPN. MLB Odds at TopBet.eu have the hosting Rangers listed as a -144 moneyline favorite while L.A. is getting +134 odds in its role as road underdog. The Under 11 runs is favored in tonight’s game at -115 odds.
Los Angeles spoiled a perfect opportunity to gain ground on the division leading Rangers this weekend as Texas dropped two out of three at home against the White Sox. Instead the Angels remained five games back of Texas and fell behind the surging Athletics by losing its home series with Tampa Bay.
Los Angeles the series with a 3-1 victory, but it got blanked 3-0 on Saturday and fell 2-0 yesterday, spoiling a solid team debut from the recently acquired Zack Greinke. Should the Angels bats remain punch-less tonight, a third consecutive loss is all but guaranteed. This evening’s starter, the once reliable Ervin Santana, has been anything but efficient this season, producing a 4-10 record and 6.00ERA in 19 starts.
Santana, who has seen the Angels go 0-5 in his last five outings, is coming off another miserable performance. The seven year veteran gave up eight hits and six earned runs over 1.2 innings to the Rangers last Saturday in Anaheim. The ugly showing brought Santana’s career ERA against Texas to an unenviable 5.82.
The Rangers, who at 59-41 are 4.5 games ahead of second place Oakland in the AL West standings, will counter the struggling Santana with 11 year veteran Roy Oswalt. Oswalt, who is making his sixth start for Texas, owns a 5.22 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, and .344 batting average against since his return to the majors; however, the poor numbers can be attributed to two starts where he allowed a total of 26 hits and 14 earned runs. Oswalt has been spectacular in his last two outings, giving up eight hits and two earned runs over 12 innings. Texas is 4-1 in Oswalt’s five starts this season.
MLB Odds Betting Trend: The Under is 8-2 in the Rangers last 10 games as a home favorite with a total between 10.5 and 11 runs.
Want to dominate the books with winning Pro MLB Plays in the 2012 MLB Season? Get with some of the best MLB Odds experts in the business, sign up right now and receive Free MLB Plays!
MLB Odds 2012 Los Angeles Angels vs Texas Rangers: Provided by TopBet.eu
Los Angeles Angels +1.5 (-155), Over 11 (-105), +134 (Moneyline)
Texas Rangers -1.5 (+135), Under 11 (-115), -144 (Moneyline)
