Angels vs. Astros Prediction and Odds for Tuesday, April 19 (Astros to Win Big at Home)
By Joe Summers
The 6-4 Houston Astros host the 6-5 Los Angeles Angels in the second-game of a three-game set tonight at 8:10 PM EST.
Houston won the first contest of the series 8-4 yesterday and sends Framber Valdez to the mound in hopes of another victory.
Valdez has only surrendered one run over 9.2 innings in his first two starts and is picking up right where he left off from a 2021 campaign in which he hurled 134 innings with a 3.14 ERA.
Los Angeles will turn to Patrick Sandoval, who gave up one run in 4 innings to Miami in his only start of the season. He had a 3.62 ERA across 87 innings before being shut down in August with a back injury.
Where does the value lie in this divisional matchup? Can Valdez continue his strong start to the year and shut the Angels' potent offense down or will Sandoval lead Los Angeles to victory?
Let's check out the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook to help pick a winner in this Angels vs Astros matchup:
Angels vs. Astros Odds, Run Line and Total
Run Line:
- Angels: +1.5 (-155)
- Astros: -1.5 (+127)
Moneyline:
- Angels: +138
- Astros: -148
Total:
- 8.0 (Over +100/Under -120)
Angels vs. Astros Prediction and Pick
Mike Trout will likely miss tonight's contest after getting hit on the hand by a wayward pitch a couple of games ago. He didn't play last night ether, and the Angels offense missed him. Now, they have to take on an impressive pitcher in Valdez with a history of strong starts in the early stages of a season.
Last season, Valdez had a quality start in six of his first seven outings and has allowed just four hits in his first two starts of this year.
Valdez doesn't strike out a ton of batters and walks too many, but does a tremendous job of limiting hard contact. He's in the 96th percentile in 2022 in expected slugging percentage, so Los Angeles hitters will need to be patient. It's unfortunate, then, that the Angels rank 27th in strikeouts per game and 18th in walks per game.
On the other side of things, the Astros are salivating to feast on Sandoval today. He was dreadful in both outings against Houston last year, surrendering four runs in two innings in his first start and four more runs in 4.2 innings in his second. Los Angeles lost them both, and his penchant for walking batters can bite him against an Astros offense that's ninth in walks per game.
Valdez went 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA against the Angels last season, including shutting them out over seven innings the last time he faced them, and I expect another solid performance today.
Los Angeles has the 26th-ranked bullpen ERA in 2022 while Houston's is 11th. With Sandoval's history against the Astros, the Angels will need to rely on a poor bullpen much earlier than they'd like to in this one. Houston should roll.
Pick: Astros -1.5 (+127)
Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.