Despite being loaded with talent, huge payrolls, adoring fan bases and highly successful records in the baseball odds over the past few years you can’t help but feel a little bit sorry for the Boston Red Sox and the LA Angels. These two teams have been powerhouses in the AL baseball lines action over the past decade but this year, despite having terrific records by almost any standard, these two teams are in grave danger of missing out on the MLB postseason The Sox (56-44) have the fourth best record in the AL yet are no better than third place in their own division. That’s because the AL East is ridiculously talented, and the Sox are currently 8.0 games out of first and look to have little if any chance of making the postseason despite a stellar record.
The Angels have hit a rough patch of late but still have managed to hold their record over .500 (52-50) and with the addition of Dan Haren look set to get back to their winning ways. Yet this team is still 7.5 games behind Texas (58-41) and it looks like the chances of being featured in the MLB playoff baseball odds is growing slimmer every day.
Needless to say, if these teams are going be playing in October, they’ve got to start making up ground now, and both organizations desperately need to win this MLB odds matchup.
The Angels will trot out starter Joel Pinero, long a mainstay of the LA rotation, but one of the many Angels stars that are having less than stellar seasons (10-7, 4.18 ERA). His numbers are fine by almost any standard but his ERA has ballooned and he no longer gets out batters as easily as he used to.
The Sox will give their #1 ace Josh Beckett another start, just his ninth of the season and what a season it’s been. 2010 has been a personal nightmare for Beckett (1-1) with an ERA of 6.66 and only two decisions. After coming off the IR he pitched 5.2 innings and gave up just one run.
Beckett looks to be in good form and should pitch well enough for the Sox to get a win in this very important road series.