Soriano Will Continue Road Dominance

Angels vs. Athletics, 9:40 ET

Angels vs. Athletics, 9:40 ET

Going 1-1 usually means that you are going to lose money for the day. However, I was able to get a nice plus money victory yesterday as the Rockies pulled out the five-inning victory. They actually won the full game as well, but I isolated my play to the first five innings, and if you read the whole thing, you would’ve also potentially played the over in the game, and that was another relatively sweat-free victory. Tonight we look to grab another win on the diamond as the Angels take on the Athletics in an AL West battle.

Playing a game between two of the worst teams in baseball and certainly the worst two teams in the division always adds an interesting wrinkle to gambling. In certain sports you might be concerned that neither team is really truly motivated to win. However, that typically is a decision made by the front offices rather than the players on the field. You have to assume that the players are always doing everything they can to win a game. In a strange way, the Angels really haven’t done anything correctly as players over the past three or four years to win games, even with the support of the front office trying to make them a winning club. They currently are 11 games under .500 and don’t have much positive going for them. They lost Shohei Ohtani in the offseason, which really wasn’t something unexpected, but still a crippling blow to a franchise that cannot afford it. Then Mike Trout got injured again, as he seems to do every single season. Anthony Rendon, who made waves this season by complaining about how many games they have to play, has been injured and unproductive. In other words this franchise is currently a dumpster fire and something needs to change. One pitcher who is actually doing very well for them is tonight’s starter, Jose Soriano. He comes into the game with a 4-5 record and a 3.48 ERA with a 1.18 WHIP. Those numbers are all very encouraging. He actually has been even better on the road than his overall numbers. In seven starts (eight outings overall), he has produced a 2.33 ERA and allowed just 12 earned runs over 46.1 innings. He hasn’t faced the Athletics this season, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that offense doing a lot of damage against him.

GOODYEAR, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 27: Darell Hernaiz #48 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting an RBI sacrifice fly against the Cleveland Guardians during the second inning a spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark on February 27, 2024 in Goodyear, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Oakland has a worse record than the Angels this season, but the expectations were also different for these two teams. At the beginning of the season, the two teams came into the year with very little expectation that either would make the playoffs. The Athletics were assumed to be the worst or one of the worst teams in the league. They actually played fairly good baseball for a limited stretch of the season. They are also ahead of where they were last year. They have 30 wins at the moment and didn’t get to 30 wins until July 29th last year. Yes, they will probably lose close to 100 games this season, but for a team that is trying to rebuild and figure things out, this is positive progression and they should be pleased as a team and organization. To make matters worse the future of where they will play and all of that is still a bit ambiguous. Tonight, Mitch Spence takes the hill. Spence has been decent enough for the Athletics in dual roles for the team. He has made 19 appearances, but eight of those have been starts. He has tossed a total of 68.1 innings and he has a 4.35 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP. He exclusively started in June and it wasn’t great. He threw 30 innings over five starts and allowed 18 earned runs. He did face the Angels in his last start and he allowed six earned runs over 5.1 innings in a 7-5 loss. 

This game is mispriced in my opinion. I think the Angels will win this game with relative ease. Soriano has proven this season that he can be a dominant starter on the road. I’m going to take a shot here and play this game three different ways. I’ll back the Angels on the moneyline at -125. Then I’ll take them for the full game at -112. Finally, I’ll take them on the run line for the full game at +150. I just don’t see this as a good matchup for the Athletics. 

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