The Los Angeles Angels (41-36) are on the road to face the Colorado Rockies (30-48) at Coors Field on Saturday. The Rockies took Friday’s series opener 7-4.
Reliever Pierce Johnson was credited with the win after throwing one scoreless inning, and Justin Lawrence earned his third save with a scoreless ninth.
Elias Diaz went 3 for 5 with a home run and a double in the win. He drove in four runs.
Jurickson Profar added a solo home run. Shohei Ohtani was 3 for 5 with a solo home run and a double for the Angels.
ON THE MOUND
Griffin Canning (5-2, 4.40 ERA) is set to take the mound for Los Angeles. The righty allowed two runs over six innings in his last start, a 10-9 road defeat against the Royals on June 17. He yielded three hits while striking out five and walking two in the no-decision.
Righty Chase Anderson (0-1, 4.12 ERA) will toe the rubber for Colorado. It’s his first appearance of the season against the Angels. In his last start on Sunday, Anderson took the loss on the road against the Braves.
He threw three innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking four in the 14-6 defeat.
AT THE PLATE
Over the last five games, Los Angeles has averaged only 3.6 runs a game, down from their season average of 4.8, partially due to poor on-base performance (.304 vs .328).
Against right-handed pitchers like Anderson this season, the Halos have a .760 OPS. Ohtani is the team’s strongest performer against right-handers with a 1.050 OPS in 208 at-bats. Colorado is averaging 5.2 runs per game in the last five, up slightly from 4.4 for the season.
The Rockies have a .746 OPS against right-handers in 2023. With a .914 OPS over 189 at-bats, Ryan McMahon has been their best hitter against right-handers.
HOME AND AWAY
Los Angeles is 21-20 on the road in 2023, scoring 4.9 runs per game while allowing 4.5 runs. Colorado has gone 17-19 in front of their home fans this season, averaging 5.2 runs per game while surrendering 6.3. In the last 10 games between the teams at Coors Field, Los Angeles is 7-3 with an average scoreline of 6.2-4.1.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Angels are third in the AL West, seven games behind the division-leading Rangers. The Rockies are fifth in the NL West, 16 games behind the Diamondbacks.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
LA Angels (-155)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
