A's vs. Angels: Picks, predictions, how to watch Tuesday’s game

The Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels square off on Tuesday, August 2 with first pitch set for 9:38 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Oakland will start Cole Irvin (6-7, 3.05 ERA) while Los Angeles counters with Noah Syndergaard (5-8, 3.83 ERA).

The Athletics (39-65) took a three-game win streak into their last series, but it ended against the Chicago White Sox. Oakland won the first game of the series but then dropped the final two before the off day Monday. Irvin will be starting his 19th game of the season. He faced Los Angeles for the first time this season on May 22, pitched six innings, and gave up eight hits and three earned runs while earning his second loss.

The Angels (43-59) lost three of four games against the Texas Rangers in their last series and then had an off day Monday. It has been a season of constant worse for Los Angeles, who are 4-6 in the second half of the season. Syndergaard is starting his 16th game of the year and is coming off a loss. He pitched 5.2 innings and have up six hits and only one earned run against the Kansas City Royals, but it wasn’t good enough with no run support.

A's vs. Angels

Pitchers: Cole Irvin vs. Noah Syndergaard
First pitch: 9:38 p.m. ET
A's local broadcast: NBC Sports California
Angels local broadcast: Bally Sports SoCal
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Angels -1.5
Run total: 7.5
Moneyline odds: Athletics +105, Angels -125

Moneyline pick: Angels -125

Los Angeles has been tough to back this year, especially with their lack of run support for their pitchers. Syndergaard should turn in another great outing, but I don’t think he takes the loss in this one. The Athletics have shipped out even more of their remaining players at the deadline, and the Angels should pick up the series-opening win on Tuesday.

Player prop pick: David Fletcher over 0.5 hits (-115)

Fletcher is hitting a measly .208 and .091 against left-handed pitchers this season. So why am I backing him against the southpaw Irvin? After returning to the Angels lineup, Fletcher has gone 4-10 in his three games. He is also 7-12 against Irvin in his career and should log another base hit on Tuesday.

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