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Los Angeles Angels (25-24) – Joe Saunders +154, 8 O/U at Toronto Blue Jays (29-24) – Roy Halladay -164, 8 O/U, Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 7:07 PM EST, Tuesday
by Badger of Predictem.com
Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay will once again try for his Major League leading ninth victory tonight when the Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Angels start a three-game set in the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Angels will counter with their best pitcher, lefty Joe Saunders.
The Blue Jays will be trying to find a way to support their ace Halladay tonight, since they’ve lost his last two starts with no run support and a bullpen blowup. They also lost on Sunday to Boston, 8-2, but they took two out of three from the Red Sox over the weekend and have their ace on the bump to kickoff the series against the Angels.
The Angels come into the series opener fresh off of an emotional Sunday victory over Seattle, 9-8, scoring seven runs in the ninth to win it walk-off style on a Kendry Morales three-run jack. But even with the huge comeback win Sunday, the Angels were just 2-4 on their home stand and need the momentum to carry out onto the road.
Oddsmaker has staked Halladay and Toronto as -164 favorites on the moneyline, with the Angels listed as large +154 underdogs on the dimeline. The over/under total is listed at 8 across the board at most online sportsbooks.
Halladay is just 7-5 with a 4.35 ERA in 15 career starts against the Angels, but he has won two straight against them including a dominant eight-inning, six-hit, one-run gem earlier this season in a 13-1 victory on May 6th.
Saunders has been good this season (6-3, 3.26, 1.19 WHIP), and will be looking to continue his recent progress in his last few outings. Last time out he gave up three runs (2 HR) on seven hits and 3 walks in 6.1 innings of a 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox, but the he threw seven innings of four-hit, no-run ball against the Mariners the start before the last one, so he’s throwing better than his L3 numbers indicate (1-2, 4.74 ERA, 1.42 WHIP).
Toronto is 9-9 versus lefties this season, and Saunders is 1-2 with a 3.62 ERA in four career starts versus the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays lineup is still averaging over five runs a game overall, but it goes up to 5.12 at home in Rogers Centre. They scored 11 in the two wins over the Red Sox, so they are starting to show signs of a slowdown.
The Angels are scoring 4.78 runs on the road, but are allowing 4.96 runs, which explains their 11-12 road record.
The Angels won two of the three games in Rogers Centre last season, but they have had their struggles in the past, as they are just 7-15 in Toronto since 2003.
The under also trends as a strong play when these two foes battle, cashing in at a rate of 40-13-5 overall in the last 58 games (22-5-3 in Toronto). The under is also 4-0-1 in Halladay’s last five starts against the Jays.
Badger’s Pick: It’s hard to pick against Halladay, especially since he is due, but I can’t get past the value of the Angels at +154. The Angels are coming out of a funk, while the Blue Jays I think are still in their funk. Halladay throws another gem, but loses 2-1 or 3-2 tonight. Take the Los Angeles Angels at +154.
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