The Los Angeles Angels (36-38) visit the Tampa Bay Rays (45-31) to kick off a three-game series at Tropicana Field Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook‘s lines around the Angels vs. Rays odds with MLB picks and predictions.
Season series: Rays lead 4-0.
RHP Griffin Canning is L.A.’s projected starter. Canning is 5-4 with a 5.07 ERA (55 IP, 31 ER), 1.40 WHIP, 3.9 BB/9 and 9.5 K/9 across 11 starts and one relief appearance.
- Last outing: Loss, 8-4, with 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB and 2 K at the Oakland Athletics June 16.
- vs. Rays on the current roster: 20 at-bats with a .250/.286/.600 slash line, 7/0 K/BB, 1 HR and 2 RBIs.
RHP Andrew Kittredge takes the ball for Rays. Kittredge is 5-1 with a 1.27 ERA (35 1/3 IP, 5 ER), 0.88 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9 and 8.4 K/9 across three starts and 24 relief appearances.
- Kittredge will be the opener for what figures to be a “bullpen day” for Tampa Bay since Kittredge hasn’t completed more than two innings of work yet this year.
- Kittredge earned a no-decision vs. the Angels earlier this year (May 5) with a stat line of 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB and 1 K in Tampa Bay’s 3-1 road win.
- vs. Angels on the current roster: 12 at-bats with a .083/.154/.083 slash line, 2/1 K/BB, 0 HR and 0 RBI.
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Angels at Rays odds, lines, picks and prediction
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 12:50 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Angels +135 (bet $100 to win $135) | Rays -155 (bet $155 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Angels +1.5 (-155) | Rays -1.5 (+125)
- Over/Under: 8.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Prediction
Angels 5, Rays 3
Money line (ML)
Slight “LEAN” to the ANGELS (+120) FIRST 5 INNINGS for a quarter unit because L.A.’s lineup has been hitting better recently, Canning’s advanced pitching numbers vs. this Tampa Bay lineup is solid, and I “like” the Angels’ First 5 Innings run line for some insurance.
For instance, over the past week, the Angels hitters have the sixth-best WAR, wRC+ and wOBA while the Rays batters are bottom-10 in each of those categories.
Also, L.A. shouldn’t be caught off guard by Tampa Bay using a “bullpen day” since the Rays did so with Kittredge vs. the Angels at the beginning of May.
L.A. didn’t score any runs on Kittredge, but he had a 5.03 SIERA and 4.53 xFIP – so Kittredge wasn’t necessarily “sharp” against the Angels.
On the other side, Canning has a healthy 33.3% strikeout rate and impressive 3.00 FIP vs. active Rays batters (21 plate appearances).
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Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
Definitely BET the ANGELS +0.5 (-120) FIRST 5 INNINGS heavier than or instead of L.A.’s First 5 Innings money line.
The reasons why we are betting the Angels’ First 5 Innings markets is that their bullpen is far worse than the Rays relievers and L.A.’s familiarity with Tampa Bay’s “opener”.
Over/Under (O/U)
PASS even though I “lean” to the Over because the market is barreling into the Over in Angels-Rays, and most of the situational trends point to the Over. But that seems too easy to me.
And I don’t like following a crowd of people in sports betting because it often feels like a trap by the oddsmakers.
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