The Houston Astros will host the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday night for the final game of their four game weekend series. The Angels played the role of spoilers in the first two games of the series before the Astros got some revenge on Saturday. Houston earned a come from behind victory over the Angels on Saturday night, by a score of 7-3.
The Los Angeles Angels had another disappointing season and will miss the 2018 playoffs. The defending World Series champion Houston Astros are in great shape to earn the right to play in October. The Astros currently lead the American League West Division by 2.5 games over the surprising Oakland Athletics. Houston is -187 over the Los Angeles Angels in the series finale.
Cole Makes Start For Astros
Right-hander Gerrit Cole will start for the Houston Astros on Sunday night. Cole has been one of the best pitchers in the American League this season in his first year with the Houston Astros. After a mini-slump to start August, Cole has won his last two decisions for the Astros. He is 12-5 with a 2.85 earned run average through 27 starts this season.
Alex Bregman has carried the Astros offense this season. The third baseman leads the team with 26 home runs and 87 runs batted in while continuing to play terrific defense at the hot corner. Jose Altuve is finally healthy for Houston and has been a force at the plate since his return. The Astros are the fourth-highest scoring team in baseball this season and are heating up at the right time.
Trout Continues to Lead Angels
Mike Trout continues to lead the Los Angeles Angels offense but has cooled off a bit in the second half of the season. Trout brings a .309 batting average into this game to go along with 31 home runs and a .458 on-base percentage. The Angels recently announced that future Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols, will miss the remainder of the season which is a huge blow to the Angels offense.
The Angels will also be getting a boost on Sunday night as Shohei Ohtani will make his long-awaited return to the pitching mound. The Japanese star will be making just his 10th start of the season on Sunday after sitting out for several months with an elbow injury. Ohtani is 4-1 with an impressive 3.10 earned run average through nine starts this season. He faces a tough challenge against a strong Astros lineup on Sunday night.
Astros Win Series Finale
The Los Angeles Angels have played the Astros tough all weekend long, but they simply don’t have the same amount of talent as Houston has. Houston is finally starting to get healthy, and look poised to make another deep run in the 2018 playoffs. Shohei Ohtani will likely show some rust after a long break from pitching and the Astros will take advantage. Bet the Houston Astros -187 to beat the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday Night Baseball.
