Game Time:  1:35 PM ET, Thursday, May 5th,  2022 

Venue: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Where to Watch: MLB TV

DraftKings: Moneyline: Angels -159, Red Sox +140; O/U  9

 BetMGM: Moneyline:  

PointsBet: Moneyline: 

Angels: 15-10, 1st place AL East

Red Sox: 10-14, 4th place AL East

An American League matchup between the West and East divisions.   The Angels are off to a good start on the season and the Red Sox are off to a bad start… but on closer inspection… it looks like the AL East is a lot tougher than the AL West… Also it is drastically early.  So where do we put our money?... How do we bet on the game?... Let’s look at the numbers and the projected pitching match-up.  That’ll give us a good idea.

The Los Angeles Angels have won 7 of their last ten games.  Going 3 Overs and 7 Under during that span.  RHP Shohei Ohtani is still possibly the best player in baseball… Even when he doesn’t take the mound for the Angels he can still kill your team from the plate as the DH.  Center Fielder Mike Trout is off to an early start at racking up those home runs… hes has 6 on the season and is batting second.  Left Fielder Taylor Ward has shown up at the plate this season with a batting average of .371 in 62 at bats with 5 home runs, 13 RBI’s and 16 runs scored. Taylor Ward bats lead-off for the line-up … add to those guys a slightly better rotation than in recent years and the Angels have the makings of a really good team.  Angels management have always found a way to ruin a good thing… so we will see.

The Boston Red Sox have won only 3 of their last ten games.  Going 3 Overs, 6 Unders, and 1 Push during that span.  The Sox can’t hide it… the team is hitting very badly.  Production from third baseman Rafael Devers, short stop Xander Bogaertrs, and JD Martinez is down across the board.  Maybe they are trying to warm up?... Or maybe big changes are in store? In years past the Red Sox have been able to overcome a middling to poor offense with strong pitching… Except this season the Sox are middling to poor from the mound themselves.  In the l;ast 10 games Boston has gone 1-2 against the Baltimore Orioles, 1-3 against the Toronto Blue Jays and 0-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays.  They also won the first game of this series with the Angels… when Michael Wacha got a 4-0 win off a matchup with Noah Syndegaard.  Will that keep happening for the Sox?

Once a year big profit! Horse racing ON FIRE! In last year's Kentucky Derby, Al McMordie CASHED longshot Mandaloun (a $100 across the board wager profited $1520), and has CASHED the 1st leg of the Triple Crown the past 2 years (and has CASHED 10 OF THE LAST 23 Triple Crown races, overall, including a 124.40 exacta in 2015). Now, for Saturday, Big Al's back in the saddle with a Winner in the Kentucky Derby. Go get it! Get Big Al’s picks!!…They are available right now at the Shop Picks Page,where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers.  And stay with BigAl.com for all your favorite sports… MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAAF, NCAAB.  Remember winning a wager is more fun than making the wager!

The Angels are 11th in scoring with 4.40 runs per game, 8th in batting average with .244, 6th in OBP with .323.  

The Red Sox are 24th in scoring with 3.54, 20th in batting average with .231, and 26th in OBOP with .280.

The Angels pitchers are 17th in team ERA with 3.68, 4th in WHIP with 1.12, and the fielders are simply committing too many errors with 16 so far for 24th in the league.

The Red Sox pitchers are 13th in ERA with 3.43, 16th in WHIP with 1.22.  The Sox fielders have held it together for only 12 errors and a 13th ranking in that category.

Our prediction for Thursday May 5th is... Angels 5 - Red Sox 1

The Sox got game 1 of this series… but they simply do not have enough hitting to sustain runs over a multiple game series.  And they have to face Shoehei Ohtani… a historically great player already.  With the total set at 9?... I’m going to recommend the Under also… That is a high total and these teams have combined for 13 UNDERS in 20 games.

Don't miss our champion handicappers' Free MLB Picks and Premium Selections every day here at Bigal.com. Just click on Shop Picks for our Best Bets, or click on Shop Subscriptions to join for a week or a month. And if you enjoyed this Angels/ Red Sox preview, be sure to bookmark Bigal.com for our daily Game Previews and Predictions.

5 of 6 games between these two teams have gone UNDER the last 3 seasons.

The Red Sox are 239-291 as an underdog of +125 - +175 (plus 47.4 Units) since 1997

The Angels are 433-395 on the road when the line is set 8.5 - 10 (+67.2 Units)

Angels: 3B Matt Duffy (ill) Out 

Red Sox: 2B Jonathan Arauz (ill) Out

Angels: RHP Shohei Ohtani, 2-2, 4.19 ERA, 30 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched.  Shohei is off to a slow start except for the fantastic strikeouts. Once he gets warm the Red Sox will not be hitting many balls.

Red Sox: LHP Rich Hill, 0-1, 3.71 ERA, 11 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.  Rich is a 42 year old baseball lifer that has pitched 1151.2 major league innings.  Starting him against Ohtani is the the equivalent of raising the white flag.

Angels: RF Taylor Ward, CF Mike Trout, DH Shohei Ohtani, 3B Anthony Rendon, 1B Jared Walsh, 2B Jack Mayfield, C Max Stussi, SS David Fletcher, LF Brandon Marsh

Red Sox: 2B Trevor Story, 3B Rafael Devers, SS Xander Bogaerts, DH J.D. Martinez, LF Alex Verdugo, CF Enrique Hernandez, 1B Franchy Cordero, C Kevin Plawecki, RF Jackie Bradley Jr

Angels: Joe Maddon

Red Sox: Alex Cora

Partly Cloudy, 66*, gentle winds hitting 10 MPH.  Boston is simply not a warm place this time of year… when it gets cloudy and the humidity hits 46%... it can really suck the energy out of a player/team. Thankfully this is a day game and the guys can be in the hotel in time for an early dinner.