The red-hot Angels of Anaheim return home winners of 9 of their last 10 and 12 of 15. They are mashing the ball despite still not having Vladamir Guerrero and Torii Hunter in the lineup. The Angels are hitting .320 in their last 10 games and are starting to pull away in the American League West. They now lead the Rangers by 3 games. The Minnesota Twins come in after losing 2 of 3 in Oakland including that memorable 14-13 loss on Monday night. The Twins are still trying to catch the Tigers in the AL Central and trail them by only 2.5 games. Their starting pitching needs to get much better. Twins starters have a 6.55 ERA in their last 10 games.
Scott Baker tries to give the bullpen a rest tonight. Twins fans shouldn't hold their breath for that. Baker is 8-7 with a 5.10 ERA this year and has surrendered 19 homeruns. The good news is he had a very impressive outing Saturday at Texas. He pitched 8 strong innings only giving up 1 ER while striking out 8. The bad news is in 6 career starts against the Angels, he holds a lofty 5.96 ERA. The Angels will counter with Jered Weaver, who is 10-3 with a 3.41 ERA, but has been getting rocked lately. In his last 3 starts, Weaver has a 5.94 ERA, but the Angels have won all 3 of those games, because they are averaging 11.3 runs in those 3 games. Weaver has been super at home this year, going 7-1, 2.12. In 4 career starts vs. the Twins, he holds a 2.65 ERA.
Minnesota swept the Angels back in April at home, but that was a long time ago. Everything points towards Anaheim in this game. A hot team against a team on a West Coast road trip. This will be an important 4-game series for the Twins. They need to at least split here and give their bullpen a rest. The line in this game has gone down to -153 at Bodog. I will ride the Angels in this one.
Pick: Angels -153
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Twins are 1-5 in Bakers last 6 starts during game 1 of a series.
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Twins are 1-5 in Bakers last 6 starts as a road underdog.
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Twins are 1-6 in Bakers last 7 starts as an underdog.
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Twins are 0-7 in Bakers last 7 starts as an underdog of +110 to +150.
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Twins are 0-6 in Bakers last 6 starts as a road underdog of +110 to +150.
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Angels are 12-1 in their last 13 during game 1 of a series.
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Angels are 4-1 in their last 5 games vs. a right-handed starter.
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Angels are 4-1 in their last 5 home games with the total set at 7.0-8.5.
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Angels are 17-5 in their last 22 after allowing 5 runs or more in their previous game.
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Angels are 20-6 in their last 26 games following a win.
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Angels are 25-8 in their last 33 Thursday games.
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Angels are 9-3 in their last 12 home games.
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Angels are 26-9 in their last 35 games on grass.
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Angels are 26-9 in their last 35 overall.
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Angels are 20-7 in their last 27 games as a favorite.
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Angels are 19-7 in their last 26 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5.
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Angels are 8-3 in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.
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Angels are 5-2 in their last 7 vs. American League Central.
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Angels are 20-8 in their last 28 after scoring 5 runs or more in their previous game.
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Angels are 17-7 in their last 24 home games following a road trip of 7 or more days.
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Angels are 41-18 in their last 59 games as a favorite of -110 to -150.
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Angels are 39-18 in their last 57 when their opponent allows 5 runs or more in their previous game.
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Angels are 17-8 in their last 25 home games vs. a right-handed starter.
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Angels are 63-31 in their last 94 home games vs. a team with a winning record.
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Angels are 5-0 in Weavers last 5 starts with the total set at 7.0-8.5.
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Angels are 4-0 in Weavers last 4 starts as a favorite of -110 to -150.
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Angels are 4-0 in Weavers last 4 starts during game 1 of a series.
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Angels are 4-0 in Weavers last 4 starts following an outing of less than 4 innings in his last appearance.
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Angels are 5-1 in Weavers last 6 starts after allowing 5 runs or more in their previous game.
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Angels are 5-1 in Weavers last 6 starts vs. American League Central.
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Angels are 5-1 in Weavers last 6 starts with 4 days of rest.
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Angels are 9-2 in Weavers last 11 starts.
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Angels are 4-1 in Weavers last 5 starts as a home favorite of -110 to -150.
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Angels are 8-2 in Weavers last 10 starts on grass.
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Angels are 8-2 in Weavers last 10 starts as a home favorite.
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Angels are 4-1 in Weavers last 5 home starts with the total set at 7.0-8.5.
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Angels are 7-2 in Weavers last 9 home starts vs. a team with a winning record.
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Angels are 6-2 in Weavers last 8 starts when their opponent scores 2 runs or less in their previous game.
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Angels are 6-2 in Weavers last 8 starts after scoring 5 runs or more in their previous game.
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Angels are 6-2 in Weavers last 8 starts as a favorite.
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Angels are 6-2 in Weavers last 8 starts when their opponent allows 5 runs or more in their previous game.
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Angels are 23-9 in Weavers last 32 home starts.
Twins are 8-20 in the last 28 meetings in Los Angeles.
Twins are 1-4 in Bakers last 5 road starts vs. Angels.
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Twins are 1-5 in Bakers last 6 starts vs. Angels.
