Larry Ness
Jul 24 '18, 10:05 PM in 9h
MLB | White Sox vs Angels
Play on: Angels -177
My Bonus Play is on the LA Angels at 10:05 ET. The Chicago White Sox won 5-3 last night in the opener of this four-game series with the Angels in Anaheim. Chicago sits at 35-64), leaving them with a better record than only won the30-69 Royals and 28-73 Orioles. As for the Angels, the loss dropped them to 50-51, 10 1/2 games back of the second wild card in the American League. Despite owning MLB's best player (Mike Trout), the Angels, who opened 13-3, seemed destined to be a non-playoff team once again in 2018)..
Taking the mound on Tuesday for Chicago will be lefty Carlos Rodon (2-3, 3.56 ERA). This will be Rodon's first start since the break. His final start before the All-Star break was a great one as he allowed three hits over 7 1/3 scoreless innings while defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0. Rodon has pitched well since returning from shoulder surgery , which kept off the field since early September of 2017. He made his 2018 debut on June 9 and he has allowed two or fewer runs in five of his seven outings for far this season. Rodon is 1-2 with a 4.11 ERA in three career starts against the Angels. Felix Pena (1-0, 3.42 ERA) gets the nod for LA and he will be making his sixth start of the season. He as yet to pitch longer than 5 1/3 innings but has struck out 32 against just nine walks in 26 1/3 innings. A troubling note is that Pena has a 4.76 ERA at Angel Stadium this season, compared to a 0.96 mark on the road.
However, Pena has filled a desperate need for the Angels this season. They've had 10 pitchers go the disabled list, including five that elected for Tommy John surgery.The bottom line is that the White Sox are just 2-5 in Rodon's seven starts in 2018 plus own a sad-sack 16-35 road record in which they are being outscored 5.78-to-3.96 RPG. Noting that Chicago's victory on Monday snapped a six-game slide at Angel Stadium plus was only its second win in its last 16 games in Anaheim, puts me on the Angels.