After winning the first meeting of their four-game set with the Kansas City Royals (70-46) on Thursday, the Los Angeles Angels (60-56) unfortunately lost the next two and are now down 2-1 in the series. The Angels will have one more chance to regroup and even things up in their series finale tonight. Will they have the last laugh? Or will the Royals impose their will on them again?
Read on further for a full preview of this tasty matchup, and for other sports action, you can check out our preview of the 2015 PGA Championship. Enjoy.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Los Angeles Angels vs. Kansas City Royals Preview
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
When: Sunday, August 16, 8:10 PM ET
Line: Los Angeles Angels (+130) vs. Kansas City Royals (-140); total: 8.0 —View all MLB Lines
Betting on the Los Angeles Angels
Last night’s loss hurt the Los Angeles Angels really bad, as they are now clinging on to just a half game lead over the Orioles for the final wild card slot in the American League. Losing any further could ultimately end their season earlier than expected. The Angels will look to hang on to their current position by pulling out the win in the final meeting of their four-game set with the Kansas City Royals.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Getting the nod for the Angels is Hector Santiago, who is 7-6 with a 2.87 ERA thus far this season. Santiago is currently on a four-game slump, during which he’s yielded 14 earned runs and 23 hits in over 16 1/3 innings. However, tonight just be the perfect opportunity for him to get himself back on track, as the 27-year-old lefty boasts a career 1.53 ERA, a .96 WHIP and a .179 opponents’ batting average when opposing the Royals.
No matter how good Santiago has been against Kansas City, he can’t pick up the win if he’s teammates can provide him enough run support. The Angels’ hard-hitting duo of Mike Trout and Albert Pujols will need to make their presence felt even more. Trout has is 3-for-9 thus far in the series and is batting .391 throughout his career against the Royals. Pujols, meanwhile, is only 1-for-12 in the same stretch; however, he is 3-for-5 lifetime off Yordano Ventura.
Los Angeles is 1-10 in its last 11 road games.
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Betting on the Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals captured their second-straight win over the Los Angeles Angels with a resounding 9-4 victory last night. That marks their seventh win in their past 10 outings, which solidifies further their hold of the No. 1 seed in the American League Central division. The Royals will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten run to three when they send Yordano Ventura (7-7, 4.97 ERA) on the mound this evening.
Ventura is coming off his best performance of the season against Detroit on Tuesday, wherein he logged in six shutout innings to notch down his seventh win. But prior to this game, he was the total opposite as he was rocked for 11 earned runs and 14 hits in his previous two. Kansas City was 1-1 during that span. Ventura is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across two career starts against the Angels.
Consistency remains to be one of the biggest struggles for Ventura and it’ll be interesting to see if he can finally show some signs of improvement on this aspect later. If he doesn’t, the Royals’ offense—that’s been averaging 6.33 runs in this series—has got to back him up.
Expect their first baseman Eric Hosmer, who is the team’s best batter this year (.319), to take on most of the offensive load. Hosmer is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, where he has gone 10-for-28 (.357) with three homers and 10 RBIs to his name. Also, he’s been simply remarkable at home games this year, holding an impressive .326 batting average.
Kansas City is 9-3 in its previous 12 home games.
Writer’s Prediction:
The Royals (-140) win, 7-2.
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