Los Angeles at Pittsburgh

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.