Tonight’s American League Featured Game
Angels (Ohtani) Vs Mariners (Castillo), 10:38 EST
Two of the best pitchers in the American League face off tonight in Anaheim with Shohei Ohtani facing off against Luis Castillo.
Castillo makes just his third start of the season for the Mariners after being acquired from the Reds. The Mariners threw him two difficult challenges in those starts, both facing the New York Yankees with Gerrit Cole in the lineup. Luis was up to the task both times including an 8-inning performance in his last outing allowing only three hits. The Mariners won both of those games although Castillo was forced to settle for no-decisions in each. The task doesn’t get any easier for him today as he is asked to take on Ohtani.
What else can be said about Shohei Ohtani? He recently became the first player in MLB’s long history to have 10 wins, 10 HRs, and 10 steals in a season. He could be the most talented athlete in all of the sports right now. But the Angels have not supported him much this season. It is fair to say that most MLB fans outside of LA were disappointed not to see him traded at the deadline this year.
The Angel’s season may be already lost with a terrible mid-season slump seeing them plummet down the standings. But the team is showing some signs of life recently and is starting to win games again despite Mike Trout still being out of the lineup.
Every game remains critical for Seattle as they desperately try to stay afloat in the packed American League wild-card race. Mariner’s front office took a major gamble trading away three top-ranked prospects to add Luis Castillo to their rotation. Missing the playoff would be a major disappointment for a club that hasn’t seen postseason action since 2001.
American League Best Bets
I took a couple of days off over the weekend for a mini vacation. Let’s start a new winning streak this Monday with two picks.
AL: Astros (Urquidy) [-129] @ White Sox (Ceuto) $
The Astros are playing at a different level than everyone else in the American League. The team looks locked in and focused on bringing another championship to Houston. Their starting rotation is easily the best in the league and the bullpen is stacked with good arms. Only the Yankees have scored more runs, but the Astros’ bats seem to get clutch hits at will. I don’t expect them to be underdogs in many of their remaining games all season.
The White Sox are an above-average lineup playing below expectation. They will be hard-pressed to make a return to the playoffs this season unless they can find lighting in a bottle late in the season. The starting pitching matchup may even be a slight lean in Chicago’s favour today, but that only serves to keep this line down at a more reasonable level.
AL: Rangers (Otto) [-156] Vs Athletics (Kaprillian) $
The Rangers have undoubtedly been the most unlucky team in the American League and their record should be better. There should be value betting Texas down the stretch and I will be looking to back them when possible.
The Athletics were starting to show some life a couple of weeks ago with a decent run of good play which included a sweep of the dominant Astros. That run seems to be at an end and the club has now returned to the losing ways and currently are riding an 8-game losing streak. It will be difficult for this Oakland team to remain focused down the stretch with their season now clearly over in mid-August.
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Legend: $ one unit regular bet, $$ two units best bet, * prop bets .5 units
