MLB Friday July 8th Angels at Orioles Betting Preview

Baltimore is a pretty significant -142 favorite heading into the July 8th Angels at Orioles betting preview. The O’s did pick up a 4-1 win in the series opener (at +101), but have only seen a favorite line that high one other time since an early May win over the Royals.

The Angels were just 10-18 in June, but their struggles have continued with a 1-5 start to July. Los Angeles is 2-6 in their last 8 – both wins coming in Shohei Ohtani starts. Ohtani is not on the mound Friday night, but can LAA still squeeze any value at +120?

Angels Couldn’t Build on Offensive Momentum

It wasn’t necessarily an offensive explosion, but the Angels 5-2 win over the Marlins was the most amount of runs they had scored in awhile. In fact Los Angeles hadn’t reached the 5-run barrier since a 5-0 win over the Royals on June 22nd, a span of 10 games. Prior to the win over Miami, LAA had scored 5 runs total in their previous four games.

As it turns out the resurgence at the plate was short lived, as Los Angeles managed just 1 run over 6.0 IP against Baltimore starter Jordan Lyles in the series opener and could only get a single hit over the final 3 innings against the Orioles bullpen.

Is there any reason to be optimistic that the visitors score any runs in the July 8th Angels at Orioles betting matchup? The total is 8.5 but that seems high with Ohtani going 2 for his last 18 and Mike Trout being even worse than that, 1-19 with 10 K’s.

Orioles Streaking

Baltimore isn’t just a -142 favorite because the Angels have been horrible the past 5 weeks, it’s also because the Orioles are in a nice little groove with five straight wins. A victory on Friday night would equal Baltimore’s longest win streak in the last two years as they inch closer to a .500 record (40-44).

Adley Rutschman had a home run and Ryan Mountcastle drove in two runs to power the Orioles win on Thursday night. The Baltimore offense was able to get Chase Silseth out after just 4.0 IP in the opener, something they will try to duplicate against Reid Detmers (2-3, 4.66 ERA) on Friday. Detmers has allowed 9 ER in his last two starts (8.2 IP) including 4 HRs so it could be a big night for the Orioles bats.

Tyler Wells (7-4, 3.09 ERA) looks to continue a strong sophomore season when he takes the hill on Friday night. The Orioles have won in 7 straight Wells starts, and he has picked up the win in the last 5 of those.

Free July 8th Angels at Orioles Betting Pick

Baltimore has not just gotten hot due to series’ with the Rangers and Angels, they’ve won 10 of their last 13 and are really showing some legitimate momentum. Some bettors might shy away from this -142 price tag just because it’s the Orioles, but this might be a team finally ready to turn things around – at least towards a .500 record.

80% of the betting public is liking Baltimore here even though the line continues to climb after a -115 open. The O’s still have to be the play with a significant pitching advantage.

Free Pick: Orioles -142