After taking the first two of this four game series with the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Angels are in danger of ending the series with a split and falling behind the Astros in the AL West.
At 44-38 they are even with Houston for second and eight games back of the first place Texas Rangers. The White Sox are just 5.5 out of first in the lowly AL Central at 35-47.
For the fourth and final game of this series, the White Sox will trot out Lance Lynn who has had a few small peaks in a season of valleys and is 4-8 with a 6.40 ERA.
Patrick Sandoval will go for the Angels and in his 14 starts this season he is 4-6 with a 4.16 ERA. The Angels are the favorites to win Game 4 at home. Let's check out the odds.
White Sox vs. Angels odds, run line and total
White Sox vs. Angels prediction and odds
The Angels hadn't allowed more than three runs in any of their last four games heading into last night, but the pitching betrayed them with Jaime Barria on the mound and they fell 11-5 to the White Sox.
Tonight, they may not get great pitching, but it'll at least be better with Sandoval on the mound. In his 75.2 innings this year he's allowed 81 hits and 10 apiece in two of his last three outings. He has 57 strikeouts to 30 walks.
Those numbers are not a great indicator of future success, however, he still has a 4.10 FIP and is a whole lot better than Lance Lynn.
Lynn is a disaster, a pitcher with three different types of fastballs and none of them are good. His FIP is actually 4.86 which could be a sign that he's ready for some strong outings and his 16 strikeout performance two starts ago was fantastic.
However, I have no faith in him at this point in his career, he's already given up 19 home runs in 16 starts. Ohtani and the Angels will punish him and give Sandoval enough run support that it might not matter if the lefty has his best stuff.
It does matter that he's a lefty because the White Sox are 21st in OPS against left-handers. The one problem will be Luis Robert Jr. who has a 1.171 OPS against lefties and hit another home run last night, his eighth in the last 15 days. That's tied for the most in the league over that stretch with none other than Shohei Ohtani.
The White Sox could get a decent start from Lynn, but I expect the Angels to get a better one from Sandoval. The White Sox have a red-hot hitter that can carry their lineup in Robert, but the Angels have a better one. I'll take LA to win the series tonight.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change