Canning And Angeles Have Good Value Against Yanks

Yankees vs. Angels, 9:30 ET

It was a bit of a strange day yesterday - not Memorial Day itself - more like the results of the bets I placed. I ended up going 0-1-1 for the day, but if you read the full articles that I put out, you were able to potentially take the other bets that I gave and would've gone 2-1-1 if you played everything. That's the hard part with gambling. You can be very capable of reading a game and finding angles, but knowing which of the angles to take is not always easy. Today, I have a clear angle that I want to play, but it won't be for the faint of heart as the Yankees take on the Angels. 

New York marches into Los Angeles after taking two of three from the Padres. The Yankees are playing some solid baseball this season and aren't doing it just in New York. On the road, they have a very strong 19-10 record. Their offense continues to find ways to mash the ball. They hit for average, sporting a .257 batting average. Their team leads the Majors in home runs with 81 and are fifth with 266 runs. The biggest surprise isn't that they are fifth in the league - they have a great lineup - it is that they are behind the Guardians and Royals. That's a different story for a different time. Their pitching staff has been great as well with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. I do think that the Yankees are overperforming with their pitching staff though. They are only at about 2:1 for the strikeout-to-walk ratio. Perhaps they are playing good defense. Either way, everything is clicking for them. The only issue they are having is that Nestor Cortes is great at home but terrible on the road. If we judge him by his current form, he has pitched 12 innings with no earned runs allowed. He's made five road starts this season, and he has allowed four earned runs in four of the five starts. He hasn't made a quality start on the road all season, compared to at home where he has done nothing but throw quality starts. Today he faces an Angels team without their best player. He's been good against them in just 19 at-bats against him, where he has allowed just three hits. 

Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes busted out an interesting set of cleats on Saturday against the Twins which were made out of denim. (Getty Images)

If everything this year is working out for the Yankees, everything is not working out for the Angels. They were decent for a little bit of the year, but they now are 13 games under .500 and have lost 19 of 25 home games. Outside of Taylor Ward, the club really has no reason to be excited. Mike Trout is once again out and in all likelihood will be done for the entire season. Although the Angels spend freely on players, like the Yankees have done, the results aren't nearly the same in history, or now. The issue really isn't about the hitting though. The team is actually batting fairly well at .245, which puts them at 11th in the league. They are right in the middle of the league with 230 runs scored for the season. They do strikeout quite a bit, being top-10 in strikeouts this season, but everything else is actually working for them. The Angels have lost four of their past five games, and were swept this weekend by the Guardians as they returned home. Now, they send out Griffin Canning to navigate this tough Yankees lineup. Canning has been a bright spot in the rotation this month for the Angels. He has thrown 22.2 innings over four starts and allowed just five earned runs. Almost all of those are the result of home runs allowed as he has allowed four homers this month. Canning has been great against the Yankees in 41 at-bats. He has allowed just eight hits, only one going for extra-bases (a homer to Aaron Judge). 

I would rarely think that the Angels can win a baseball game but this one does set up well for them. Cortes is not a good road pitcher. Canning is pitching very well right now and can probably keep it rolling. Both of them have shown effectiveness against their opponent, so it should be low scoring through five innings. I also want no part of the Angels bullpen, so I'm going to take the first five innings for Los Angeles at +140. Wouldn't be surprised for under 9 for the game and under 4.5 through five innings either. 

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024