Angels -105 4.5* MLB POD
The Angels lost last night 3-4 to the Braves and I think it's a good opportunity to bet them to bounce back. They are afterall 43-20 in their last 63 inter league road games which is quite impressive. It's not easy to win on the road when the rules change, but Garrett Richards and the Angels seem up to it on Saturday night. Richards has two quality road starts in inter league play so batting 2-3 times has not thrown his game off a bit as he carries an ERA nearly under 2 on the road this year. The Braves have never faced him and I think it's going to be particularly difficult when you consider they are 26th in OPS vs. RHP and scoring just 3.04 runs per 9 at home vs. RHP compared to over 6 vs. LHP. Richards is also the type to give the Braves issues he can strike guys out and on the year he's only allowing 0.22 HR/9. The Braves often have to rely on the long ball and their bullpen to win close games, but their bullpen has also been struggling.
Braves will send Gavin Floyd to the mound who is thriving in the National League, but his numbers are not as good as they are on paper. He's been lucky to face the Rockies twice without 3 of their starters and the other 5 opponents all rank outside the top 10 in OPS vs. RHP. The Angels are 8th and they have 115 AB against him with a .330 average and 1.0530 OPS. I think the Angels are just playing better baseball as the Braves pitching is typically their advantage it is not right now as their bullpen has struggled posting a 5.67 ERA over their last 10 games.
