Angels vs Red Sox | Predictions

Los Angeles Angels vs. Boston Red Sox
7:05 PM Thursday August 19 – MLBN
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Pitching Probables: Ervin Santana vs. Josh Beckett

With last night’s loss the Angels slipped below .500 and it appears they are dead in the water in their pursuit of the Rangers. But they can still spoil the Red Sox chances and have the perfect guy to do it on the mound in Ervin Santana. Santana was strong in a may outing against the Sox, giving up just a run and has won four of his last five starts including most recently a shutdown of the Blue Jays homer powered attack. It seems that Santana prefers to pitch against the better teams in the league. He is 15-5 against teams with a better than .540 winning percentage over the last two year. As long as the lineup doesn’t bail the Angels are primed to get back to .500 tonight.

Even though Boston has been playing pretty well lately Josh Beckett has been scary bad since coming off the disabled list. His ERA is an uncharacteristic 6.51 and it is shocking that the Red Sox actually have a winning record in games he starts this year (8-5). He has only 2 quality starts since coming off the DL but one of them was against the Angels in Anaheim. Lucky for him the lineup has been reinforced by the return of Victor Martinez and Dustin Pedroia. Jacoby Ellsbury was back for a little while but he has just returned to the DL. No matter who has been in the lineup this team has been able to score. They are second in the league in that category meaning Beckett does not have to be perfect tonight, just decent – a rarity this season.

Prediction: I am shocked at how bad Becket has been this year and don’t feel comfortable backing him at all. Santana performs well in the spotlight and the Angels will produce a nice payout.

Boston is -144 and the O/U is 9.5

Score Prediction:
Los Angeles Angels – 6
Boston Red Sox – 3

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Los Angeles Angels Betting Trends:

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Angels’s last 7 games
• LA Angels are 1-4 SU in their last 5 games
• LA Angels are 2-7 SU in their last 9 games on the road
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of LA Angels’s last 6 games when playing Boston

Boston Red Sox Betting Trends:

• The total has gone OVER in 6 of Boston’s last 8 games
• Boston is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games
• Boston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston’s last 6 games when playing LA Angels