Los Angeles Angels (25-24) Joe Saunders +154, 8 O/U at Toronto
Blue Jays (29-24) Roy Halladay -164, 8 O/U, Rogers Centre,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 7:07 PM EST, Tuesday
by Badger of Predictem.com
Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay will once again try for his Major
League leading ninth victory tonight when the Blue Jays and the Los
Angeles Angels start a three-game set in the Rogers Centre in
Toronto. The Angels will counter with their best pitcher, lefty Joe
Saunders.
The Blue Jays will be trying to find a way to support their ace
Halladay tonight, since theyve lost his last two starts with no run
support and a bullpen blowup. They also lost on Sunday to Boston,
8-2, but they took two out of three from the Red Sox over the weekend
and have their ace on the bump to kickoff the series against the Angels.
The Angels come into the series opener fresh off of an emotional
Sunday victory over Seattle, 9-8, scoring seven runs in the ninth to
win it walk-off style on a Kendry Morales three-run jack. But even
with the huge comeback win Sunday, the Angels were just 2-4 on their
home stand and need the momentum to carry out onto the road.
BetOnline has staked Halladay and Toronto as -164 favorites on the moneyline, with the Angels listed as large +154 underdogs on the
dimeline. The over/under total is listed at 8 across the board at
most online sportsbooks.
Halladay is just 7-5 with a 4.35 ERA in 15 career starts against the
Angels, but he has won two straight against them including a dominant
eight-inning, six-hit, one-run gem earlier this season in a 13-1
victory on May 6th.
Saunders has been good this season (6-3, 3.26, 1.19 WHIP), and will
be looking to continue his recent progress in his last few outings.
Last time out he gave up three runs (2 HR) on seven hits and 3 walks
in 6.1 innings of a 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox, but the he
threw seven innings of four-hit, no-run ball against the Mariners the
start before the last one, so hes throwing better than his L3
numbers indicate (1-2, 4.74 ERA, 1.42 WHIP).
Toronto is 9-9 versus lefties this season, and Saunders is 1-2 with a
3.62 ERA in four career starts versus the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays lineup is still averaging over five runs a game
overall, but it goes up to 5.12 at home in Rogers Centre. They scored
11 in the two wins over the Red Sox, so they are starting to show
signs of a slowdown.
The Angels are scoring 4.78 runs on the road, but are allowing 4.96 runs, which explains their 11-12 road record.
The Angels won two of the three games in Rogers Centre last season,
but they have had their struggles in the past, as they are just 7-15
in Toronto since 2003.
The under also trends as a strong play when these two foes battle,
cashing in at a rate of 40-13-5 overall in the last 58 games (22-5-3
in Toronto). The under is also 4-0-1 in Halladays last five starts
against the Jays.
Badgers Pick: Its hard to pick against Halladay, especially since
he is due, but I cant get past the value of the Angels at +154. The
Angels are coming out of a funk, while the Blue Jays I think are
still in their funk. Halladay throws another gem, but loses 2-1 or
3-2 tonight. Take the Los Angeles Angels at +154.
