MLB Baseball
2012-05-19 - LA Angels at San Diego Padres
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Saturday 19 May 2012 - First Pitch 10:05pm ET
3:05am (British Standard Time)
Preview
Don't look now, but Albert Pujols is finally hitting the ball for the LA Angels (18-22) as he rides a seven game hitting streak as well as scoring 2 Home Runs. The Angels will be expecting Pujols to help them power through against the San Diego Padres (14-26) who are suffering with injury issues and were beaten 7-2 in game 1 of this series.
Everyone expected the Angels to be a powerful batting line up and they are finally showing their worth and they are beginning to hit well. The team is averaging 0.293 at the plate in their last 6 games, up from the 0.245 they have averaged in the first 34 games this season.
The Angels will likely need to provide some run support for Dan Haren who is going to the mound with his 1-4 record and a 4.41 ERA this season. He has really struggled in his three starts for the Angels in May, going 0-3 with a 6.48 ERA and he gave up 4 runs in 6 innings in his last outing against the Oakland Athletics.
Haren is 5-2 with a 3.49 ERA in 13 starts against the Padres, and he was hammered for 6 runs in over 5 innings when he last started against them in July 2010 while pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Tim Stauffer was the scheduled starter for the San Diego Padres, but he is yet another player that is on the injury list and will be missing in this game. They now have 12 players on the Disabled List and will be sending Eric Stults to the mound after recently picking him up of the waiver list from the Chicago White Sox.
Stults started just 1 game for the White Sox this season, giving up 2 runs in over 6 innings pitched against the Cleveland Indians. He is 8-9 with a 4.39 ERA in 24 starts while with the LA Dodgers and he has never pitched against the LA Angels before.
Head to Head
The LA Angels have won 4 in a row against the San Diego Padres following their win in game 1 last night, and they are 5-1 in the last 6 games overall.
The Angels have won their last 3 visits to San Diego, going 3-1 all time on the road at the Padres.
San Diego are 10-16 at home, LA are 7-12 on the road.
Prediction
The Angels are currently rolling at the plate and they look like they can take full advantage of a San Diego team that has struggled to score runs consistently and are now suffering a number of injuries.
Dan Haren is likely going to need some run support with the way he has been struggling with his command during the month, but the Angels have been producing enough at the moment to suggest they will do so.
Eric Stults will be making his first start since joining the Padres, but he will be under pressure to quickly get up to speed with little time starting time.
The Pick :
San Diego Padres 3-6 LA Angels
