Lugo Will Redeem Himself For Me Against Angels

Royals vs. Angels, 4:07 ET

A mid-Sunday game between the Royals and Angels normally wouldn't be overly exciting, but in this case, because we can bet on it, I think we should be jazzed up. I mean, when is the last time you looked at a slate of baseball games and go "I need to watch two clubs that don't have much national attention." For me, it happens daily, and I love sports, so this is a blessing. I love watching sports, I love reading about sports, and I love writing about sports. Most of the time I love sports betting too. Hopefully at the end of this game I'll be in love with it even more.

The last time I took a game on the Royals, I won. I took a game where they were playing the Brewers and they were able to win 6-4. This was a bit of a rebound for me as I lost in one of the worst possible ways the night before on the Royals in a matchup between the same two teams. I'm not going to relive the entire drama, but Seth Lugo, today's starter, was the starter for that game as well. The Brewers hit a three-run bomb in the top of the ninth with two outs and that cost me all three of my plays that I put in for the game. Sometimes you just need to put it behind you and move on. I'm back with my guy Lugo today. He's been very reliable and someone that I'm searching for any time I see his name on the daily list of starting pitchers. Lugo for the season has a 1.92 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He has made eight starts on the year and has posted a quality start in seven of them. For him, the biggest issue right now is the longball. He allowed three earned runs in that aforementioned Brewers game, and two of them were from solo shots. He has now allowed five homers in his past four games. He didn't allow a home run in his first 25.2 innings this season. Something to certainly keep an eye on. The Angels don't have a ton of experience against him, but haven't fared well in the time either. 

Apr 23, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) returns to the dugout following the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles  at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Angels are once again without Mike Trout. Recently, I read a piece that said he opted to have surgery on his torn meniscus instead of playing DH. I feel slightly bad for the guy because injuries are crappy and ruin sports. However, I think I'm more concerned about why he wouldn't want to DH if he could. The team is not going anywhere this season, so I suppose I understand the reasoning of getting better and just playing for next year. Also, if I had the dump truck of money that the Angels gave him, I probably wouldn't care about playing either. I'm not saying he doesn't want to be out there, but it is just strange. The team is going to continue to struggle, and now it will probably be worse knowing they don't have a guy who was hitting a homer every three games in their lineup. Maybe their pitching staff can get something going and the offense won't have to compensate as much. Today they turn to Patrick Sandoval in hopes of having that come to fruition. Unfortunately, I really doubt there is much hope there. Sandoval has a 4.85 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP for the season. To his credit, he is coming off of his best start of the year, a seven inning outing against the Pirates where he allowed no earned runs. He has had success against the Royals, holding them to just two hits over 15 at-bats, but that isn't a great sample size. 

This game should go under the total. The Royals offense isn't great, and Lugo is giving up very little to opponents. I'm thinking the best play has to be somewhere between the Angels team total under and the first five innings under. I think the best idea here is to split a unit (if you're feeling frisky, risk one on each) and take the under for the first five innings and the under on the Angels team total for the full game. 

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