Game Time: 4:07 pm ET, Sunday, July 31st, 2022

Venue: Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Los Angeles, California (but really Orange County)

Where to Watch:  MLBN Alt, MLB.tv

DraftKings: Moneyline:  Rangers +110, Angels -127; O/U 8

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Rangers +105, Angels -125; O/U 8

PointsBet:  Moneyline: 

 

Rangers: 45-54, 3rd place AL West

Angels: 42-58, 4th place AL West

The Rangers have been eating the Angels alive.  Thankfully we got that right in the last prediction.  Sometimes we get desperately fooled by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim because they have two of the best baseball players who ever lived in Trout and Ohtani…. But oh man oh man… The lowly Texas Rangers could have a better TEAM.  That is hard to think about since the Rangers have a terrible team.  The much reported rumors of the Angels trading Ohtani… will hopefully come true… but if I were trout I would immediately withhold services until I was traded also. It makes no sense that the best baseball player of the last decade will have nothing more than a footnote in history.  The real problem is a MLB head office and commissioner that doesn’t smack owners for not spending enough or making smart enough baseball decisions.  Trout’s entire career can be summed up as… What is Mickey Mantle played on the Oakland Athletics right now… and no one ever saw him or watched him or cared.  Yes, it is too late for Trout to be anything of note… but that should not become the fate of Ohtani!

An American League West matchup between nearly identically bad teams.  Neither of these squads should inspire any confidence in your gambling dollar.  They stink. And… yes, the Angels have two of the best players in baseball on the entire earth in Ohtani and Trout… but nothing else.  The Rangers have a rangy group of nobodies that are capable of barely holding their own in one of the worst divisions in baseball.  Yes this is a bad game…no I would not watch it if I didn’t have $1000 riding on the outcome.  However… it is a great betting opportunity… because bad teams tend to be pretty predictable once you know who the pitchers are.  So let’s check the numbers and make some reliable money.  

The Texas Rangers hold a small lead in the standings over the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West of only 2.5 games… they are both 20-22.5 games behind the Houston Astros… so the lead is basically deck chairs on the Titanic. The Titanic was a ship that sank in the Northern Atlantic Ocean that inspired plays, movies, and books (in case anyone from gen-Z is reading this and thinks their life is the most important thing that ever happened).  The Rangers have won only 2 of their last 10 games.  They are on a two-game losing streak with one more to play before they hit the Angels.  They went 0-2 against the Seattle Mariners, 1-2 against the Oakland Athletics (an unforgivable result), 1-0 against the Miami Marlins, and 0-4 against the Seattle Mariners.  The Rangers had a heavy dose of the surging Seahawks and could not handle the smoke.

The Los Angeles Angels are worse than the Rangers by 2.5 games.  They still have 2, possibly 3 better players than anyone in a Rangers uniform.  If the Angels were a basketball team they would immediately be accused of tanking for the top draft pick… they also wouldn’t be this bad.  A basketball team with an Ohtani and Trout would win 50-60 games per season.  They have won just 3 of their last 10 games. Please remember this team started the season well… then tanked hard and fast and ugly.  They fired a manager, installed a bench coach as the interim manager and got even worse.  They will have to trade Ohtani eventually… the only question is Padres or Yankees?... or possibly the Dodgers or the Marlins?... Oh who am I kidding everyone wants Ohtani!  They went 1-1 against the Kansas City Royals, 1-2 against the Los Angeles Angels, 0-2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-2 against the Houston Astros.

Amedeus Mastrangelo is 43-23-1 in MLB picks over the last 60 days for a profit of +$15,840!! You should be following along with the expert handicappers at BigAl.com Get Team Amedeus Mastrangelo’s picks… It's available right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. You can also get help with all your favorite sports and sport betting.., MLB, NBA, NCAAF, NFL, NHL.  Follow a handicapper all year long to ensure a profitable year from your sports betting.

The Rangers are 12th in scoring with 4.55 runs per game, 19th in batting average with .240, and 26th in OBP with .301.

The Angels are 25th in scoring with 3.91 runs per game, 26th in batting average with .229, and 26th in OBP with .300.

The Rangers pitchers are 20th in ERA with 4.09 ERA, 23rd in WHIP with 1.32, and 24th in fielding errors with 61 on the season so far.

Angels pitchers are 18th in ERA with 4.00, 15th in WHIP with 1.25, and 18th in errors with 53 on the season.  

Our prediction for Sunday, July 31st is… Angels 5 - Rangers 3

Yes, I smoked the Angels in the introductory paragraph… but the pitching matchup says the Angels will win this one.  So take the Angels on the moneyline.

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Angels: CF Mike Trout (ribs) Out ** SS D. Fletcher (groin) Out ** 3B M. Duffy (back) Out ** 3B A. Rendon (wrist) Out 

Rangers: RHP Dane Dunning, 1-6, 4.38 ERA, 89 strikeouts in 100 innings pitched.  1.42 WHIP.  This 27 year old has funny glasses…but more than that… bad numbers…both for his short career since his debut in 2020 and for this season.  I wouldn’t put a dollar on him if I could prevent it.

Angels: LHP Reid Detmers, 3-3, 3.84 ERA, 63 strikeouts in 75 innings pitched.  1.07 WHIP.  The 23 year old has a powerful arm and a real green resume… We will wait and see, but he has the tools in this matchup.

Angels: DH Shoehei Ohtani,, LF Taylor Ward, 2B Luis Refugio, 1B Jared Walsh, RF Jonathan Villar, Cf Brandon Marsh, C Max Stassi, SS Andrew Valazquez, PH Michael Stefanic

Rangers: Chris “I was a utility player” Woodward

Angels: Phil “what’s going on fellas?’ Nevin

Partly Cloudy, 83*, Humidity 56%, wind 10 mph.  A hot day, a long drive from Los Angeles.  I wonder who actually goes to these games?... Oh yeah… Orange County people.