The Los Angeles Angels look to take another victory vs the Seattle Mariners after knocking the M’s around 9-3 last night. The Angels have won 10 of their last 14 home games and turn to righty Jaime Barria to steer the ship but when he’s on the mound, it’s been a disaster lately. Los Angeles has dropped five straight games when Barria gets the call, being outscored 25-11 in those contests. Despite his recent track record, the Angels opened as slight favorites to take the second game of the three-game series.
- The Angels are ranked 25th in OPS (.676) vs left-handed pitching this season.
- The Angels have lost five straight games with Jaime Barria starting.
- The total has gone UNDER in four of the Mariners’ last six road games.
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Angels have Gotten Smoked with Barria on the Mound
Jaime Barria had a decent start to his MLB career in 2018, winning five of his first seven starts and owning a tidy 2.48 ERA. But since then, it’s been a bit of a train wreck for the rookie as he has had trouble keeping the ball in the park, allowing six home runs in his last six starts compared to only three in his first seven appearances. As a result, the Angels have dropped five straight games when the rook is on the hill and both times he faced the Mariners this season, he took the loss. It’s worth noting that both of those starts vs the M’s were in Seattle so he may in line for a bounce-back performance against the division rival.
In the other dugout, the Mariners will counter with Marco Gonzales, who has been a nice re-addition to the Seattle rotation in 2018. In 18 starts this season, the right-hander sports a decent 3.64 ERA and the Mariners have won seven of their last nine games when he gets the ball. The Mariners have also won all three of Gonzales’ starts against the Angels this season but he needed to be bailed out by his hitters in two of those games as he gave up eight earned runs in 17 innings of work.
Southpaws Giving Los Angeles Trouble This Season
Although the Angels have had some minor success vs Gonzales this season, they’ve been out of sorts when facing lefties. Los Angeles is ranked 25th in OPS (.676), 29th in batting average (.224), 27th in total hits (170) and 29th in total RBIs (75) vs left-handed pitching this season. Those numbers alone should strike fear into bettors ready to place wagers on the Angels moneyline tonight and when you factor in that Los Angeles is 7-16 SU in 23 games vs lefty starters this season, the Halos may be in fade territory.
UNDER Bettors Cashing in When Angels Take the Field
The total opened at 8.5 and bettors may want to consider the UNDER in this divisional matchup. If the Angels are playing, the UNDER seems to follow as it has hit in four of Los Angeles’s last five games (average combined score 6.5 runs) and five of its last seven at home (average combined score 8.4 runs). If you dive deeper and see that the UNDER has also hit in four of the Mariners’ last six road games (average combined score 8.3 runs), this game is shaping up to be a snoozefest in California.
