Minnesota are slowly clawing their way to the top of the central division, and they couldn’t have asked for a better opponent that LA Angels. The visitors are reeling and an unfortunate combination of mediocre pitching and abysmal batting, has caused the former division winners to hit rock bottom. They are now tied with Houston for the last place and one more loss is enough for them to suffer the first sweep against the Twins in more than four years.
Everything seems to have gone down the drain for the Angels, who find it downright impossible to win games regardless of how their batting squad performs. The series against the Twins is particularly interesting, as LA was outscored in both games despite taking an early lead. This is a worrisome scenario for tonight, when they appear to have a slight edge in terms of starting pitchers, given the fact that the hosts chose to start Worley.
He has the highest opponent batting average in the league and with an ERA of 10.50, he looks like a sitting duck for the allegedly offensive LA Angels. Worley was terrible in both starts and his team couldn’t carry him despite Mauer being red-hot and scoring match after match. He’s the reason for Minnesota’s resurgence and the player that the visitors should walk time after time, because he can always score a home run when the bases are loaded.
The Angels conceded eight runs per game in both defeats this series, and they have no guarantee that this won’t happen again with Tommy Hanson as starting pitcher. The 27-year-old, split these two decisions in 2013, but with an earned run average of 6.55 is hardly a player to trust in the first innings. Add to this the fact that he rarely lasts more than five innings, and it becomes obvious that the Angels have no reasons to be overconfident ahead of this fixture.
Punters would be tempted to back the hosts to win the third game in a row, but the Worley factor should not be underestimated, not with the starting pitcher allowing an average of 10 rounds per match. A better solution would be to bet on more than 9.5 runs to be scored, even though the odds are not terrific. because this type of wager has the best ratio between reward and risk. For a glance at recent team performance and the standings, check out http://www.sportsbettingaction.net/sports-statistics/Baseball-Statistics.php.