The Houston Astros (+107) are playing the Los Angeles Angels (-120) at 9:38 PM EDT today. The run total is set at 9.5.
The Astros are coming off of a series in Oakland, where they heard a plethora of booing from the Athletics fans. Despite the cold welcome in Oakland, the Astros put up a whopping 35 runs in the series, sweeping by taking all four games. Many feel that the Astros cheating scandal would be blown over in 2021 given that fans were not allowed to attend in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but it appears that fans have clearly not forgotten.
The Angels are coming off of a 3-1 series win against the Chicago White Sox. Led by dual-purpose superstar Shohei Ohtani, the Angels will send Jose Quintana to the mound tonight. Quintana was acquired as a free agent in the offseason, reuniting him with former skipper Joe Maddon. Ohtani suffered a minor leg injury yesterday evening on a collision at home plate but is expected to be alright.
This early in the baseball season it is difficult to predict any outcome as no trends have yet developed, but we are going to roll with the Angels (-120) in this matchup. The Astros are sending young hurler Luis Garcia to the mound, and he made his debut just last season. Expect the Angels to exploit this pitching matchup and get key performances out of both Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon.