Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels – 8/23/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland A’s meet in an AL West division matchup from the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Angels will try to win the series after taking Saturday’s matchup by a final count of 4-3. Mike Trout led the way with a double and three RBIs while David Fletcher had a double and an RBI to cap off the scoring for the Angels in the win. Jo Adell went 2 for 4 with a double while Anthony Rendon, Jason Castro and Luis Rengifo each had a base hit to finish off the offense for the Halos in victory. Griffin Canning gave up all three runs on six hits while striking out three over 4.2 innings of work, not factoring in the decision. Matt Andriese got the win in relief to improve to 1-1 while Ty Buttrey closed out the final two innings for his 3rd save of the year. Dylan Bundy will start here and is 3-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 38 strikeouts this season. In his career, Bundy is 4-1 with a 3.49 ERA and 53 strikeouts against Oakland.

The Oakland A’s will look to rebound from their loss to the Angels on Saturday. Matt Chapman had a solo home run while Matt Olson and Tony Kemp each had a double and an RBI to finish off Oakland’s scoring as a team in the loss. Robbie Grossman also had a double while Ramon Laureano and Austin Allen each had base hits as the A’s cranked out just six hits as a team in defeat. Chris Bassitt took the loss, falling to 2-1 after allowing two runs on six hits while striking out six over 5.2 innings of work. Frankie Montas will start here and is 2-2 with a 4.74 ERA and 23 strikeouts this season. In his career, Montas is 2-0 with a 2.87 ERA and 28 strikeouts against the Angels.

Los Angeles is 17-44 in their last 61 games overall and 12-39 in their last 51 games as an underdog while the over is 20-8 in their last 28 Sunday games. Oakland is 39-13 in their last 52 home games and 41-15 in their last 56 games within the division while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 home games. Los Angeles is 4-12 in the last 16 meetings between these two teams and 1-7 in the last 8 meetings between the two in Oakland.

The low line with the A’s is tempting as they’ve been the far better team and far less disappointing than what the Angels have given us this season. However, I’m still wondering if Montas’ back issues are lingering, and he’s coming off of that start against Arizona where he allowed nine runs in less than two innings of work. Bundy seems to be the only thing going right for the Angels right now and it’s hard to pass on the plus money when Bundy’s been responsible for one third of the Angels’ wins this season. Add in the career success Bundy’s had against the A’s and this makes it one of the few times I’ll see myself backing the Angels the rest of the way. Give me Los Angeles for the slight plus money here.