Wednesday MLB Odds, Preview, Prediction for Angels vs. Orioles: Shohei Ohtani Looks To Pin Orioles With 20th Straight Loss (August 25)

Angels vs. Orioles Odds

The Los Angeles Angels won the first game of this series on the road against the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 14-8 on Tuesday night.

The Angels were led offensively with strong performances from Jo Adell, Juan Lagares, David Fletcher and Jose Iglesias, all of whom drove in runs in the victory. Lagares had three runs batted in, including a home run, while Adell drove in two runs of his own.

The Orioles, meanwhile, saw two home runs from Ryan Mountcastle in the loss. They also had strong performances from Anthony Santander and Ramon Urias, each of whom drove in three runs apiece.

With superstar Shohei Ohtani on the mound in this one, should we wager on the Angels making it two-in-a-row at Camden Yards?

It's All About Ohtani Yet Again

Ohtani will continue his MVP pursuit on Wednesday with his 19th start of the season. In addition to the 40 home runs he’s hit for the team offensively, he’s also managed to compile an impressive 3.19 FIP and 10.8 K/9 average over 100 innings pitched. He’s also been successful at limiting the long ball, holding opposing batters to a 0.77 HR/9 average up through this point in the season.

One potential area for concern, however, is the 41% Hard Hit rate that he’s allowed so far. His 6.4% Barrel rate is still strong, but if this number increases during the last month-plus, it’s possible we start to see more crooked numbers on Ohtani’s stat sheet going forward.

That said, it’s unlikely that will come tonight against the Orioles. They’ve been one of the worst teams in baseball against right-handed pitching, collectively hitting to a .294 wOBA so far on the season. Given their opponent, that number will all but likely go down after this matchup.

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Orioles Have Lost 19 Consecutive Games

Chris Ellis will get a spot start for the Orioles on Wednesday after being claimed off waivers by the team just five days ago. He’s had limited action at the big-league level this season, pitching just four innings for the Tampa Bay Rays a week ago. He was successful in that outing, allowing zero earned runs over four innings while striking out seven batters.

That said, his numbers in Triple-A for the Rays were horrendous. Over 57 innings, he compiled a 6.06 FIP, allowed 2.2 HR/9 and surrendered an astounding 4.4 BB/9 on average. Frankly, it’s a miracle he saw any action in the majors at all this season.

While the Orioles will likely look to get at least four innings out of him, this will likely be an abbreviated outing either way. He’ll take on an Angels team that has been solid against right-handed pitching, collectively hitting to a .315 wOBA in such situations.

They’ve also shown a penchant for taking advantage of subpar pitching of-late, as evidenced by two games in their last five where they scored as least 13 runs.

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Angels-Orioles Pick

It’s a rarity for a run line to present itself as the best play, but today’s game presents just that opportunity.

The Angels will be running out a dominant Ohtani against an Orioles team that struggles against right-handed pitching. On the other side, the Orioles will be trotting out a pitcher, just claimed off waivers, that was only able to muster a 6.06 FIP at the Triple-A level this season.

Combine all of that with an Orioles bullpen that has pitched to a subpar 4.61 FIP so far this season and you have the perfect spot to attack the Angels run total.

I’ll comfortably be targeting this one up through the -140 range, even as the line shifts upward.

Pick: Angels -1.5 (-140)