Game Time: 4:07 pm ET, Sunday, August 14th, 2022 

Venue: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, California

Where to Watch:  MLBN (JIP), MLB.tv

 

DraftKings: Twins -125, Angels -105; O/U 8.5

Caesars:  

PointsBet: 

 

Twins: 57-53, 2nd place AL Central

Angels: 49-63, 4th place AL West

The Angels lost Game 1 of this series (as predicted here)… Our prediction for Game 2 (saturday) is an Angels win.  This prediction will cover Game 3 on Sunday.  This game will be the make or break game of the series.  Sunday will be a nice, hot, summer day that will bleed into night with the humidity and heat clinging.  Let’s check the pitching matchup.  

An American League Matchup between two teams on a dramatic downslide.  The Minnesota Twins recently gave up first place in the AL Central to the Cleveland Guardians.  The Twins still have a winning record (barely), but they have been sliding into obscurity.  It is one thing to be the best team in the worst division in baseball…. It is entirely another to lose first place in the worst division in baseball.  The Los Angeles Angels have been flirting with the MLB dumpster for a decade.  They do one thing from being completely forgotten…  that is signing the occasional all-timer and ruining their careers.  Currently they have future Hall of Famers Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani… baseball history won’t give a damn about either of these guys unless they find a way out of the Angels grasp.  The Angels are going nowhere fast.  Their only chance is to get a big haul from the Dodgers for Ohtani… or maybe a big haul from the Yankees for Ohtani… Anything else and they will be stuck in the Upside Down World from Stranger Things.

The Minnesota twins have won 4 of their last 10 games.  They got SWEPT by the Los Angeles Dodgers 0-2, went 2-2 against the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1 against the Detroit Tigers, and 0-1 against the San Diego Padres.  The Twins have hitters.  That is true, but they lack pitching.  The pitching numbers aren’t so far below average that they are fully terrible, but they keep serving up losses.  Hitters Byron Buxton, Luis Arraez, and Sandy Leon can not hold up enough of their end if they don’t get help from the pitching.  This is the sort of team that could go “all-in” by signing multiple guys for the mound and suddenly be good enough for real competition… but until then it is bottom of the barrel stuff.

The Los Angeles Angels have won 6 of their last 10 games in a real improvement over July.  August has been better if not good to the Angels. Still the core problems remain… They don’t have enough of enough. They went 3-0 against the Oakland A’s in a SWEEP of the worst team, 2-2 against the Seattle Mariners, and 1-2 against the Oakland A’s (again).  The Angels are circling the drain with the occasional home run or good pitching outing winning the occasional game. Terrible batting (despite Trout and Ohtani) and average pitching will not get it done.  The hard part is that the Angels can not make the big movies to improve because they have 70+ million invested into Trout and Ohtani… If both those guys end up on the move.. The Angels could start winning with creative signings… of course that would depend on the Angels ever getting a competent front office?.. Not likely.

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MIN: 58-53, -69 ML, 54-48-8 O/U, 26-28 in away games.

LAA: 49-64, -2467 ML, 46-56-10, 24-32 in away games.

The Twins are 11th in scoring with 4.51 runs per game, 9th in batting average with .250, and 8th in OBP with .320.  They have some batters and do not struggle at the plate.

The Angels are 25th in scoring with 3.88 runs per game, 27th in batting average with .228, and 27th in OBP with .297.  The hitting is slim.

The Twins pitchers are 20th in ERA with 4.10, 15th in WHIP with 1.25, and the fielders are 13th in errors with 57 on the season so far.  This team pads it’s stats with lots of games versus the other AL Central scrubs… however the direction is clear… They need to sign an ACE outright and find someone in the minors to take a starting spot with good results… Then they will be a force to reckon with.  Only then though.

The Angels pitchers are 13th in ERA with 3.86, 13th in WHIP with 1.25, and the fielders are 15th in errors with 59 on the season so far.  The pitching is almost good for gosh sake!

 

Our prediction for Sunday, August 14th is…  Twins 6 - Angels 2

 

The Twins will again beat the Angels.  The Angels squad as a whole is due for a mix-up.  They do not have a full roster of talent… Instead choosing to have a couple of great players and not much of anything else. This is the team that should have traded for Juan Soto… This is the team that should have signed Max Sherzer… This is a team that builds to a point and then simply stops…. Why build to that point?  Just spend nothing and take your TV money like the scam that you are Anaheim!  So this bet is Twins on the moneyline.

 

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The Twins are 21-27 when the total is 8 to 8.5 this season (-8.2 UNITS).

The Twins are 54-62 when the total is 8 to 8.5 the last three seasons (-21.6 UNITS)

THE Angels are 51-74 when the total is 8 to 8.5 (-26.2 UNITS)

The Angels are 78-89 in home games the last 3 seasons (-30.3 UNITS) 

Twins: C K Garlick (ribs) OUT ** 3B M Sano (knee) OUT ** RF T Larnach (abs) OUT ** RF A Kiriloff (wrist) OUT ** C R Jeffers (thumb) OUT ** SS R Lewis (knee) OUT

Angels: Cf M Moniak (finger) Out ** 3B M Duffy (back) Out ** 3B A Rendon (wrist) Out

Twins: RHP Chris Archer, 2-5, 4.02 ERA, 66 strikeouts in 78 innings pitched.  1.29 WHIP.  This 33 year old does not have a winning record this season or over his career.  His numbers aren’t terrible but they aren’t anything to brag about either.  Good thing for Chris he is playing the Angels/

Angels: LHP Tucker Davidson, 1-3, 7.91 ERA, 11 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched. 2.02 WHIP.  This 26 year old has the worst ERA and WHIP that I have typed in over 300 betting predictions on baseball games.  The Good news is the sample size is so small that any numbers could swing these averages in any direction.  Tucker is a 19th round pick in 2016 with just 41 major league innings under his belt.  This outing should be considered as nothing more than “Meat on the Mound”.  He will see the inside of a minor league park again soon… but for now he is a greenie serving meatballs.  

Twins: 1B Luis Arraez, SS Carlos Correa, 2B Jorge Polanco, RF Max Kepler, 3B Jose Miranda, CF Nick Gordon, LF Jake Cave, DH Tim Beckham, C Gary Sanchez

Angels: 2B David Fletcher, DH Shohei Ohtani, 3B Luis Rengifo, RF Taylor Ward, LF Jo Adell, C Max Stassi, CF Magneuris Sierra, 1B Phil Gosselin, lSS Andrew Velazquez

 

Twins: Rocco “where is the lasagna?” Baldelli

Angels: Phil “huh?” Nevin

Sunny. 93*, Humidity 43%... when you get an hour of driving away from actual Los Angeles you run into Anaheim and the desert.  The fact that they are allowed to use LA on their caps is absurd.  It would be like a Connecticut team using NY on their caps… or  a San Antonio team using “Austin” on their merch… anyway it is deep in the desert and it will be hot.  Wind at 10 mph.