Blue Jays Baseball Betting Pick: Blue Jays At Angels Preview

Toronto Blue Jays at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
10:05 p.m. eastern, Sportsnet
Moneyline favourite: Angels (-125)
Over/under: 8.5

Scott Redmond isn't a big-name hurler, but his recent stats are better than Tommy Hanson.
Scott Redmond isn’t a big-name hurler, but his recent stats are better than Tommy Hanson.

The Angels host the Blue Jays for Game 2 of a four-game weekend series. LA whipped the Blue Jays 8-2 Thursday in the series opener, scoring seven runs in the first three innings off Josh Johnson and coasting from there.

About the Blue Jays
Toronto, which has won five of its past eight, sends Todd Remond to the mound in search of his second win of the season. Redmond has 22 strikeouts in his last 15.2 innings. He has never faced the Angels.
Jose Bautista homered Thursday and has five bombs in his last 14 games. Colby Rasmus is hitting .409 over his last 17 games.

About the Angels
The Angels, who snapped a six-game losing streak with Thursday’s win, will start Tommy Hanson tonight. In Hanson’s last outing, he blew a five-run lead by allowing five runs and walking five in a 10-6 loss at Oakland. Hanson, who recently came off the disabled list (strained right forearm), held Toronto to two runs over eight innings last year while with the Braves.
Mark Trumbo has hit .311 with three HR in his last 11 games, and has clubbed four HR and driven in nine runs in his last seven against the Jays.

Injuries/roster news
Melky Cabrera, widely speculated as a player likely to be suspended as a result of the BioGenesis investigations, went on the 15-day DL today. The outfielder left Thursday’s contest in the fourth inning due to irritation in his left knee. He did not appear to be running well on defence earlier in the game and committed a throwing error that allowed an Angels runner to score from first base on a single.
LA remains without Albert Pujols, who is on the 15-day DL with a foot injury.

Weather
Temperatures are expected to dip into the low 60s (Fahrenheit) tonight in LA. There is hardly any chance of rain.

Trends
The Blue Jays are 4-10 in their last 14 games as an underdog and 7-15 in their last 22 against a right-handed starter. The Angels are 1-4 in Hanson’s last five starts as a favourite, but have won five of their last seven home games against Toronto. The over is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings between the clubs, but 27-13-2 in the last 42 meetings in LA.

Our pick
Hanson is the bigger-name starter tonight, but Redmond is in better recent form. We’ll take the Blue Jays at an underdog price (+115) in tonight’s battle between two underachieving squads.