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Two teams playing some good ball as of late meet when the A's and Angels open a four-game AL West series down at the Big A Thursday night. Both teams are sending rookies to hit the hill here, but Los Angeles is lined as a significant betting favorite. How are we playing this game with our free MLB pick?
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<h2>
MLB Betting Odds<br />
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<p>
Thursday's MLB betting odds opened Los Angeles at around -155 over Oakland, with an over/under of nine runs. Both those figures were holding firm in the early betting action.
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<h2>
A's vs. Angels Set-Up<br />
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Oakland just swept two games from St. Louis earlier this week, winning Wednesday's series finale 2-0. Just before that the A's split four games with Tampa Bay, and just before that they swept three games from Baltimore. So Oakland is 7-2 over its last nine games.
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Los Angeles, meanwhile, just swept two games from Cincinnati, winning Wednesday 5-1. Just before that the Angels dropped two of three at St. Louis, but just before that they took three of four at Toronto. So LA is 6-3 over its last nine games.
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<p>
At 43-38 and 41-40, respectively, the A's and Angels trail division-leading Houston by seven and nine games in the AL West race. But they're also only 1.5 and 3.5 games back of Cleveland and Texas in the battle for the second American League wild-card spot.
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<p>
Oakland leads the season series with Los Angeles six games to four.
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<h2>
Thursday's Starting Arms<br />
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Rookie righty Canning is 3/10 on quality starts this season, one for his last four. Last Friday he held the Cardinals to two runs and four hits through 5 1/3 innings of a 5-1 Angels loss. And over his last four starts, he's allowed 13 runs and 22 hits through 23 1/3 innings.
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Los Angeles is 5-5 with Canning this season, but 1-3 over his last four starts.
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In two starts against the Athletics, this season Canning allowed five runs and 10 hits through 12 innings. The Angels split those two games.
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Anderson is 0/3 on quality starts since his promotion to the Big Leagues earlier this month, but he's also three outs away from being 2/3. In his ML debut 17 days ago he held Tampa Bay to two runs through 5 2/3 innings; 11 days ago he held Seattle to two runs through 5 1/3 innings. Then last Saturday he gave up three runs and seven hits through four frames of a 5-3 Oakland loss to the Rays.
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On the whole, Anderson has allowed seven runs and 13 hits through 15 innings.
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The A's are 0-3 with Anderson this season, but that's not all his fault.
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This will be Anderson's first-ever start against the Angels, which could give him an edge, at least for the first couple of times through the lineup.
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<h2>
Thursday's Batting Splits<br />
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Oakland is batting .237/.313/.417 against right-handed pitching this season.
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Los Angeles is batting .267/.343/.451 against RH pitching this season.
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<h2>
The Bullpens<br />
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The A's bullpen owns a 4.19 ERA this season and a 1.32 WHIP while allowing a .718 OPS.
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The Angels pen owns a 4.52 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP while allowing a .756 OPS.
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<h2>
Totals Report<br />
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Unders are 41-40 in A's games this season.
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Unders are 39-36 in Angels games this season.
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Unders are 20-18 in games played at Angel Stadium this season.
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Totals are split 5-5 in A's-Angels games this season.
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Unders are a combined 10-2 in games started by Canning and Anderson this season.
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<span style="font-size:16px;"><b><span style="color:#008000;">Get more details:</span></b> <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/107933">Oakland at LA Angels MLB Match-up Stats</a> </span>
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