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Angels vs Astros Prediction and Odds for Friday, July 1 (Halos Finding Every Way Possible to Lose)

By Matt De Saro

Houston Astros v New York Yankees
Houston Astros v New York Yankees / Christopher Pasatieri/GettyImages
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It’s amazing to me how bad the Los Angeles Angels are right now with arguably the two best players in the Majors on their roster.

But, a team is the sum of its parts, and the parts of this team not named Ohtani or Trout are straight-up garbage. Tuesday’s loss to the White Sox is a great example of this. Ohtani went 3-3 with a two-run home run while Trout hit his 23rd of the year. The Angels still managed to lose that game 11-4. It’s becoming clear that the Angels are just wasting the talent of these two future Hall-of-Famers. 

The Astros, meanwhile, are living up to the hype and enter this series after a week of beating up on New York Baseball with a 6-2 record against the Mets and Yankees. This is a mismatch if I’ve ever seen one, and we haven’t even gotten into the starting pitchers. 

Here are the odds for this game, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook.

Angels vs. Astros Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

  • Angels: +1.5 (-155)
  • Astros: -1.5 (+127)

Moneyline:

  • Angels: +148
  • Astros: -158

Total:

  • 8 (Over -110/Under -110)

Angels vs. Astros Prediction and Pick

The last thing the Halos need is another struggling starting pitcher. But, that is exactly what they have on the mound tonight with Michael Lorenzen. Lorenzen started the season off with a great run, but things have gone south in the last couple of weeks. Lorenzen has an ERA of 6.75 in his last four starts after giving up 15 runs in his last 20 innings. He has been plagued by walks over that span with a K:BB ratio of 21:13 which is pretty bad. 

Meanwhile, Christian Javier will make his 15th start of the season for the streaking Astros. He boasts a strong 2.73 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 62 ⅔ innings pitched. Furthermore, Javier is coming off a dominant start over the deadly New York Yankees while holding them hitless over seven innings. Javier struck out 13 and walked just one, in what would end up being a combined no-hitter for the Astros. 

While I don’t expect Javier to pitch another seven no-hit innings, I do believe he continues to pitch well alongside a streaking Astros lineup. 

Pick: Astros -1.5 (+127)

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE

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