The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels meet Sunday in MLB action at Angel Stadium. The Houston Astros look for a win to improve to 3-1 on the year. The Los Angeles Angels have a chance to get to a .500 record.
The Houston Astros just couldn’t get the bats going in Saturday’s loss after being shutout, and they’ve been held to three or fewer runs in two of their first three games. The Astros have lost six of their last eight games when scoring three or fewer runs. Alex Bregman leads the Astros with 4 hits and 4 RBI, while Kyle Tucker and Michael Brantley have combined for 6 hits and 5 RBI. Jose Urquidy gets the ball, and he was 8-3 with a 3.62 ERA and 90 strikeouts last season. Urquidy is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA and 19 strikeouts in his career against the Angels.
The Los Angeles Angels pitching staff is dealing out of the gate, and that includes one run allowed in their last 11 innings. The Angels have won six of their last seven games when allowing three or fewer runs. Jared Walsh leads the Angels with 5 hits and 3 RBI, while Matt Duffy and Kurt Suzuki have combined for 5 hits and 1 RBI. Jose Suarez gets the ball, and he was 8-8 with a 3.75 ERA and 85 strikeouts last season. Suarez is 2-2 with a 5.26 ERA and 25 strikeouts in his career against the Astros.
The Astros are 5-2 in their last 7 road games and 7-3 in their last 10 games vs. a left-handed starter. The Angels are 1-5 in their last 6 Sunday games and 5-13 in their last 18 overall. The under is 6-2-1 in Astros last 9 overall. The under is 5-2 in Angels last 7 Sunday games. The Astros are 36-17 in the last 53 meetings in Los Angeles and 45-20 in the last 65 meetings.
The Houston Astros probably are the safer bet here with the more trustworthy lineup and Urquidy is probably the better pitcher of the two. Suarez was solid last season, but his 4.68 ERA and .253 allowed batting average at home were worse than his numbers on the road. With all that said, I still lean Angels here. The Los Angeles Angels can’t afford to blow division games at home if they’re going to snap the playoff streak and actually get something of this season. The Angels stars are also due for a breakout at some point. Give me the Angels in this pick em contest.