By Stephen Nover
Diamondbacks minus 1 1/2 runs minus $1.05 (run line) hosting Angels
Paul Goldschmidt is one of the hottest hitters in baseball and Patrick Corbin is one of the top lefty starters. They should help lead the Diamondbacks to an easy home victory against the Angels tonight. The linesmakers believe so making Arizona a 2-to-1 favorite. I’m not going to lay that high of a price, but I do want Arizona in this matchup so I’ll lay 1 1/2 on the run line.
Goldschmidt is riding a 12-game hitting streak. He is batting .500 in his last 10 games with four homers and 10 RBI’s during this span. Goldschmidt and his Arizona teammates should be able to do damage against rookie Felix Pena. He’s in the Angels’ starting rotation because of injuries and holds a 4.35 ERA. Pena is well above the league average in giving up hard hit balls and he’s not a big strikeout pitcher. The Diamondbacks are averaging six runs per game during their past seven games.
Corbin is third in the National League in strikeouts. He isn’t walking batters, nor giving up home runs. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 190-to-37. He hasn’t surrendered a home run during his last 10 starts. Corbin is in excellent form, too, going 3-0 with a 2.66 ERA in his last three starts.
The Angels have never faced Corbin. They are batting .226 versus lefthanders, second-lowest in the majors and have been without superstar Mike Trout.
The Diamondbacks won’t lack motivation and focus holding a one-half game lead in the NL West Division and having been idle on Monday after returning from a nine-game road trip that concluded Sunday afternoon in San Diego.
The Angels have no realistic playoff motivation being a .500 team that has lost 23 of their past 33 away games.
(Editor’s note: Stephen Nover has his MLB High Roller Parlay going today in addition to this free selection. If you are interested in Stephen’s sports service, or need a proxy for the Westgate football contest, please message him or email him at scriber26@gmail.com.)