Battle in the Bay – Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics

Los Angeles Angels (11-13) at Oakland Athletics (9-14)

BetOnline MLB betting odds: Athletics -145, Angels +125, Total 8.5

Right-hander Shane Loux (1-2, 5.24 ERA) takes the mound for the Angels, while Oakland gives the ball to southpaw Dallas Braden (3-2, 2.10 ERA).

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* LA has won five of its last seven games

* LA has won four of its last six road games

* OAK has lost nine of its last 13 games

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* Five of the last eight meetings have gone OVER the total

* LA has won four of the last six meetings as the road team

The Angels beat Oakland on Monday night behind the work of Torii Hunter, who had three hits and three RBI’s. Mike Napoli pitched in and produced two RBI’s with a 4-for-4 performance. The Angles are in third place in the American League West, two games under .500 and three games behind Seattle. The A’s are in last place, trailing the Mariners by 4.5 games.

The Angels are second in the American League in hitting, with a team batting average of .287. Conversely, the Athletics are dead last in AL hitting stats, batting .237, which is twenty points behind the next team up the ladder. Oakland has only hit 12 homers, which is the worst power figure in the league. By comparison, the Texas Rangers have 46 homers.

What may have surprised some is the fact that Oakland’s pitching staff has held up decently, with a 3.93 ERA that is third in the league. Dallas Braden, Tuesday night’s starter, has pitched the most innings on the club (with 30). Each of his starts has been solid, and in his last three outings he’s yielded just two runs and 14 hits in 18 innings.

Shane Loux’s ERA has been inflated a bit due to the fact that he was blown up badly in an April 24 start against Seattle, giving up seven runs in four innings. His last outing was April 298 against Baltimore, and he picked up his first victory since 2003 when he gave up just one run in six innings against the Orioles. It was quite a sojourn for Loux, who underwent surgery in 2005 to repair an elbow ligament, then spent almost three years in the minors before coming up with the Angels late last season.

The guy’s a study in determination, so who’s going to deny him now? Well, maybe Braden, who has been one of the very best starters in the American League thus far. The number we have to lay doesn’t necessarily appeal to us with such an anemic offensive club, but in looking at the total, we’re inclined to move with an "under" in the BetOnline American League baseball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: UNDER 8.5 (Even) **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)