Los Angeles Angels vs Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Picks

Pittsburgh grabbed the first game of this series, and Saturday's loss to a last-place Angels club doesn't change who the better roster is walking into today's rubber match. Paul Skenes has taken some hard-luck losses this year, but he's still striking out well over a batter an inning, the kind of swing-and-miss arsenal that travels against a Los Angeles lineup scoring right around four runs a game. Walbert Ureña has a strong ERA of his own, but he's lost three of his last five starts and was hit hard again in his last turn, lasting only 3.2 innings against Cleveland. The Angels are buried at a losing record with one win in their last ten games, and that kind of collapse doesn't reverse itself against a Pittsburgh team getting its ace back on the mound this afternoon. I had Pittsburgh at 1.5 units in the opener of this series and it cashed behind a shutout, and one bad game from the Angels catching fire doesn't change my read on the rubber match. Back the Pirates on the moneyline this afternoon.

Pittsburgh has won four of its last five games and comes home with real momentum after taking two of three from San Francisco this week. The Angels are trending the opposite direction, dropping four of their last five outside one lopsided win over the Yankees, and the bullpen was the problem again in Wednesday's finale against New York, a five-run relief meltdown that turned a winnable game into a blowout loss. Jared Jones isn't overpowering at 4.83 this season, but he gets a home mound against a Los Angeles club that's a miserable 23-43 on the road and 53-87 overall, well behind Pittsburgh's 69-72. Ryan Johnson has trimmed his ERA to 5.47 over his last few turns, but he's still pitching in front of a relief corps that keeps handing away close games, and that's the deeper issue for a team already this far underwater. The gap between these two rosters is real, and Pittsburgh's bullpen has been the more trustworthy group all series long. Back the Pirates on the moneyline tonight.

Los Angeles will look to its best starter so far this season, Tyler Anderson, to snap the Angels' two-game skid and salvage a game from this series. Anderson has not allowed a run his past two outings while giving up just four hits in 11 2/3 innings. The Angels have won all three of his starts, including 2-0 over the Giants on Friday. Pittsburgh starter Carmen Mlodzinski has been touched for nine runs on 14 hits his past 8 1/3 innings. The Pirates have gone UNDER seven of nine road games and the Angels are 6-2 UNDER their past eight overall, 4-2 UNDER at home. The UNDER is 4-0 in Anderson's past four starts with five days rest and Mlodzinski's past four road starts have gone UNDER dating to last season. Los Angeles has won four of five home games versus right-handed starters. Take the Angels and the UNDER.