The Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics meet Thursday for Opening Day. First pitch at Oakland Coliseum is scheduled for 10:07 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Angels vs. Athletics odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: First meeting of 2023. The angels won the season series 12-7 in 2022.
The Angels had some difficulty with the last-place Athletics last season, winning just 12 of the 19 meetings, although Oakland posted a 3-game sweep at home to close out the regular season. L.A. was just 6-4 in 10 trips to Oakland Coliseum.
The Halos looked to give DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani, 3B Anthony Rendon and OF Mike Trout some help in the lineup by acquiring OF Hunter Renfroe (Milwaukee Brewers) and SS Gio Urshela (Minnesota Twins) in the offseason.
The Athletics added veterans 1B/DH Jesus Aguilar (Miami Marlins/Baltimore Orioles), SS Aledmys Diaz (Houston Astros) and 3B Jace Peterson (Milwaukee Brewers) to try and bolster the lineup.
However, their rotation figures to be a disaster. LHP Kyle Muller is the Opening Day starter, and the rest of the rotation consists of RHP Shintaro Fujinami, LHP Ken Waldichuk, RHP James Kaprielian and LHP JP Sears. It’s gonna be a long season on the east side of the Bay.
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Angels at Athletics projected starters
RHP Shohei Ohtani vs. LHP Kyle Muller
Ohtani finished 2022 with a 15-9 record, 2.33 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9 and 11.9 K/9 across 166 IP in 28.
- Allowed 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB with 9 K across 4 2/3 IP in a loss against Houston on Opening Day last season
- Posted an 8-5 record, 2.92 ERA and .207 opponent batting average (OBA) with 100 K across 77 IP in 14 road starts in ’22
- Went 2-2 with a 1.09 ERA, .167 OBA and 28 K in 24 2/3 IP in 4 starts against Oakland last season
Muller was 1-1 with an 8.03 ERA and posted a 1.70 WHIP, 5.84 BB/9 and 8.76 K/9 across 12 1/3 IP in 3 starts in 2022 with the Atlanta Braves.
- Won the Opening Day start in the spring despite going 1-3 with a 6.50 ERA and 1.89 WHIP in 4 starts and 1 relief appearance in Spring Training
- Has a career 3-5 record, 5.14 ERA and 1.37 WHIP across 49 IP in 11 starts and 12 appearances in parts of 2 seasons, both with Atlanta
Angels at Athletics odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:30 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Angels -210 (bet $210 to win $100) | Athletics +180 (bet $100 to win $180)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Angels -1.5 (-120) | Athletics +1.5 (+100)
- Over/Under (O/U): 7 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Angels at Athletics picks and predictions
Prediction
Angels 5, Athletics 1
Moneyline
The Angels (-210) will cost you more than 2 times your potential return, and that’s quite expensive, especially for a road team.
Ohtani is a tremendous pitcher and the Halos offense is strong but it’s a little too risky for not enough reward.
PASS.
Run line/Against the spread
The ANGELS -1.5 (-120) is worth a look on the run line, despite some risk. The Halos are just 2-4 in the past 6 tries against the Athletics as a favorite on the run line. Still, L.A. has a new-look offense, and it should do enough to support Ohtani in a favorable matchup.
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Over/Under
UNDER 7 (-110) is worth playing in this opener.
The Under is 8-3-1 in the past 12 meetings between these clubs in Oakland and is 20-6-2 in the past 28 meetings overall between these AL West rivals.
The Angels closed out last season hitting the Under in the final 4 games against left-handed starting pitchers, too, while the A’s cashed the Under in their final 6 games against right-handed starting pitchers.
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