Angels hope to add to Dodgers' woes

Baseball Betting Lines

06/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In addition to calling the same metropolitan area home, both the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers hold the title of defending division champions. Only one of these teams has been playing like a contender as of late, however.

The Angels will try to pin a sixth consecutive loss on the reeling Dodgers when the Southern California foes continue the latest edition of the Freeway Series tonight at Angel Stadium.

Anaheim extended the Dodgers' woes with a 6-3 triumph in Tuesday's opener of this three-game interleague set, with the Angels scoring three times in both the sixth and seventh innings to overcome an early 3-0 deficit. The win was also the fourth in the row for the Halos in this rivalry, with Mike Scioscia's squad having swept a three-game series at Dodger Stadium from June 11-13.

The Angels have also prevailed in 17 of their past 24 meetings with the Dodgers and own a 9-3 record at Angel Stadium over that span, although the Dodgers did take two of three bouts between the teams at the Big A last season.

Anaheim tied last night's contest on Bobby Abreu's three-run homer off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw in the bottom of the sixth, then went in front on a Howie Kendrick RBI single one inning later. Kevin Frandsen followed with a two-run double to lengthen the margin to 6-3.

Kendrick finished 3-for-4 and scored twice for the Angels, who have won four of their last five tests and are 14-5 since June 2. The team still trails red- hot Texas by 3 1/2 games for first place in the American League West. Ervin Santana (7-5) did his part as well, with the Anaheim starter allowing three runs and striking out six over the first seven innings to record the victory.

Kershaw (7-4) was charged with giving up five runs in his 6 2/3-inning stint, with the young southpaw fanning six while issuing three walks.

"Abreu hitting the three-run homer was a game-changer," said Kershaw. "He's a good hitter. It was my fault. This one hurts."

The Dodgers have now dropped eight of their last 10 tilts and have fallen into third place in the NL West, three games behind front-running San Diego. The club has not lost six straight times since an eight-game skid from August 22-29, 2008.

A matchup with Joel Pineiro may not help the Dodgers break out of their funk, considering the Anaheim hurler's track of record of success against Joe Torre's team. The veteran right-hander owns a 3-0 record with a 2.67 earned run average in four lifetime starts against the Dodgers and fired a complete- game five-hitter with seven strikeouts in the Angels' 10-1 rout at Chavez Ravine on June 11.

Pineiro followed up with an equally-as-good performance on June 16, limiting Milwaukee to a run on three hits over eight innings to win his third consecutive start. He's pitched to a 2.35 ERA over that strong stretch.

The 31-year-old has gone 6-6 with a 4.45 ERA in 14 starts for the season, his first since signing a two-year free-agent contract with Anaheim in January. In seven starts at Angel Stadium, Pineiro is 3-2 with a very solid 2.40 ERA and surrendered just two homers in 48 2/3 innings of work over those games.

The Dodgers will hand the ball to John Ely this evening, with the rookie hoping to atone for a rough last start. The right-hander lasted just 4 2/3 innings of his team's 7-1 loss at Cincinnati on Thursday and was rocked for seven runs on eight hits, three of which were homers.

Ely had compiled a 3-2 record with an impressive 2.54 ERA through his first eight major league starts, but he's gone 0-2 with an awful 9.20 ERA over his past three assignments and hasn't pitched beyond five innings at any point during that span. One of those defeats came against the Angels on June 12, with the 24-year-old permitting four runs in five frames.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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