Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels Prediction, Pick and Preview, April 8 (4/8): MLB

Credit: photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

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Preview

The Houston Astros and the LA Angels will play the 2nd game of 4-game series in Los Angeles on Friday night. The Astros won last night 3-1. The pitching matchup for the series opener Thursday night was Framber Valdez for Houston against the Angels’ MVP Shohei Ohtani.

HOUSTON ASTROS

The Astros got the win 3-1 in the opening day with a great start from their pitcher Framber Valdez who allowed just 2 hits and no runs, striking out six in 6 2/3 innings. Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez hit back-to-back home runs in the eight inning to win the game.

Houston won the AL West again last season and made it to the World Series but lost against the Atalanta Braves. They will be again an important contender to the World Series this season even without Carlos Correa the team has a lot powerful players.

Probable Pitcher: 

Jake Odorizzi (0-0, 0.0 ERA) will take the mound in the 2nd game of the series for the Astros. had a record of 6-7 with an ERA of 4.21 and 91 strikeouts in 24 appearances in 2021. On his last 3 starts again the Angels he has allowed only 3 runs in 10 1/2 innings recording 1 win and 2 games with no decision.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

In the last night loss the team didn't help much to Shohei Ohtani who had a solid start. The 2021 MVP allowed 1 run on four hits and striked out nine in 4 2/3 innings but he went 0-4 at the plate. Matt Duffy had two hits in the loss, Mike Trout was 1-3, and David Fletcher produced the run.

The Angels went 77-85 overall and 39-42 at home and slugged .407 with a .310 on-base percentage as a team in the 2021 season. 

Probable Pitcher:

Reid Detmers (0-0, 0-0 ERA) will be on the mound for the Angels in the 2nd game of the 4-game series. Detmers got some limited experience in the majors last season, posting a poor 7.40 ERA and 1.79 WHIP across 20.2 innings. However, he had an impressive 43.1 percent strikeout rate across 54 frames at Double-A Rocket City in 2021, which, combined with his prospect pedigree, suggests there is significant room for improvement at the big-league level. He pitched 6 innings last season against the Astros and did really good allowing just 1 run and striked out six in 6 innings, helping the Angels to get the win on that game.

BETTING TRENDS

Houston are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games against LA Angels.

Houston are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games when playing on the road against LA Angels.

LA Angels are 5-12 SU in their last 17 games.

LA Angels are 2-11 SU in their last 13 games at home.

Prediction

The Angels couldn't do much last night against the stud Framber Valdez, Mike Trout went 1-3 and Ohtani 0-4 which is unlikely to happen again. Odorizzi has pitched well against the Angels but he finished with a 4.21 ERA last season and the Angels sluggers should wake up tonight. Expect to Mike Trout, Ohtani and company to take care of businees at home this time. Take the Angels.

PICK: Angels ML  (-120)

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