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The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels square off on Wednesday with first pitch set for 9:38 p.m. EST. The game takes place at Angel Stadium of Anaheim and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. The Astros will send Cristian Javier to the hill while LAA will hand the ball to the most electric player in baseball, Shohei Ohtani.
The Astros sit atop the AL West with a 12.5-game cushion between them and their nearest challenger. They’re continuing their hot streak, winning eight of their last 10 overall games including the series opener against the Angels last night. Overall, they’ve won 21 of their last 30 games. Javier has been good this season too, giving up just 25 earned runs in nearly 75 innings pitched. In his lone outing against the Angels this season, he went seven innings and allowed just one hit, which was a home run.
LAA is not playing great baseball at the moment. It seemed like they might have finally cracked the code earlier in the season, but then they went on a tailspin, dismissed manager Joe Maddon and have still not gotten out of it fully. The club has lost nine of its last 10 games and comes into this one on a five-game losing streak. The only win in that 10-game span came when Ohtani was on the hill. That seems to be the only time LAA has a chance to win recently.
Astros vs. Angels
Pitchers: Cristian Javier vs. Shohei Ohtani
First pitch: 9:38 p.m. EST
Astros local broadcast:AT&T SportsNet Southwest
Angels local broadcast: Bally Sports West
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Angels -1.5
Run total: 7
Moneyline odds: LAA -115, Astros -105
Moneyline pick: LAA-115
The Angels are a total mess, but once every five days they have a show of brilliance thanks to Ohtani. He’s given up just one earned run in his last five appearances which span over 33.2 frames and has racked up 36 strikeouts in that time.
Player prop pick: Ohtani outs recorded over 18.5 (+120)
This prop basically means the pitcher needs to get through 6.2 innings before getting pulled. That’s a big ask against an elite Astros lineup, but Ohtani has been dialed recently. He’s eclipsed the 6.1 innings mark in four of his last six starts, including going seven and eight innings respectively in two of his last three starts.
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