Sonny Gray (7-3, 1.74 ERA) gets the ball for the Oakland Athletics (25-39) as they go up against Matt Shoemaker (4-4, 4.86 ERA) and the Los Angeles Angels (32-30) in the last of a three-game series at Angel Stadium. The Angels won the last game 1-0 and Los Angeles leads the series 2-0. The game starts at 3:35 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jun. 14 and will air on CSN-CA.
In his last start, Shoemaker pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs, striking out six and walking one in an 8-2 victory over the Rays. Albert Pujols (.271, 35 Rs, 18 HRs, 33 RBIs, 1 SB) continued his strong season yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one run, one home run, and one RBI. In his career against the Angels, Gray is 4-1 with a 2.42 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 49 strikeouts.
Los Angeles is a small underdog (+105) and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at seven runs. When playing as the underdog, the Angels have a 12-14 record and overall money line at -224. Over the last 10 games, they have performed poorly when playing as the underdog (1-4). Whenever an AL West opponent shows up on the calendar, the Angels pitch better. They allow an average of 4.0 runs per game, but allow just 3.4 against teams from their own division. The Angels are fifth in the league in WHIP at 1.20.
Moving on to the opposing team, the Athletics come into this game with a win percentage of .421 when playing as the favorite (16-22) and an overall money line of -1,942. They have played at the top of their game when rated as favorite recently. They managed a 3-1 record when playing as the favorite and an SU record of 5-5.
The Angels have gotten the best of the Athletics in head-to-head matchups this season, going 6-3. This game will feature Gray (RHP) on the mound against the Angels, who have a 23-25 record when they take on a right-handed starter. Taking the hill against the Athletics will be the right-hander Shoemaker. They sport a 22-26 record against righties.
Predictions: SU Winner – OAK, O/U – Over
Notes
In their last game, the Athletics lost by a margin of one run. The Angels are 10-10 in one-run games. The Athletics have a 4-18 record in close games.
When leading after 7 innings, Los Angeles is 16-12, while Oakland is 10-22.
Having scored one run in their last game, the Angels are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Athletics have a 14-2 record in games where opponents scored that many runs or fewer.
It looks like the Angels have a slight leg up on the Athletics, as the Angels have won their last three games while the Athletics have lost their last two.
When they outhit their opponents, the Athletics are 20-10. The Angels have a 23-8 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 20th, Los Angeles is in the bottom half of the league in runs, scoring 247 this season. Oakland ranks in the top 10 at eighth with 265.
Ranking 21st, Los Angeles is near the bottom of the league in walks, notching 163 this season. Oakland ranks in the top five at fifth with 202.
The Angels are 23-17 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Athletics are 17-18 when they hit at least one homer.
