Baseball Betting – April 25: Los Angeles Angels vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Carrie Stroup here and I have your Baseball betting for April 25 with the feature game being the Los Angeles Angels vs. Tampa Bay Rays.  All Major League Baseball betting lines can be found here at Sportsbook.com where you can claim up to $250 in FREE CASH when you open an online wagering account today. 

Sportsbook.com Line: Los Angeles -108 & 7.5 flat

The Rays seek a fourth straight win on Wednesday night when they host the Angels for the middle game of a three-game set.

Los Angeles continues to struggle, getting blanked 5-0 in Tuesday’s series opener to David Price and the Rays. That makes five losses in the past seven games, as the Angels are scoring just 2.7 runs per game with a .232 BA in these seven contests. On the other hand, Tampa Bay has now won five of six and improved to 6-1 at home this season. Wednesday’s pitching matchup appears to favor L.A. slightly with C.J. Wilson facing Tampa Bay’s Jeremy Hellickson. However, Wilson was lit up by the Rays the last time he faced them (5 IP, 8 R, 6 ER, 3 HR) in the 2011 ALDS, and Hellickson has been tremendous in his home park in his brief career (9-5, 2.34 ERA).

Wilson (2-1, 2.37 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) has allowed just five earned runs over his three starts in 2012, and has limited opposing hitters to a .159 batting average (11-for-69). His control hasn’t been great (nine walks in 19 innings), but he was able to strike out eight A’s in six innings in his last outing on Thursday.

Despite getting rocked by Tampa Bay in last year’s playoffs, Wilson has never lost in the regular season to the Rays, going 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA and .172 Opp. BA in his 40 career innings against them. The left-hander also thoroughly enjoyed pitching at Tropicana Field last season, going 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and .163 Opp. BA in two starts. Since last season began, Wilson has been a true road warrior, going 10-5 with a 2.22 ERA and .217 Opp. BA in 20 road starts. He’ll need to keep this up considering L.A. is 2-5 on the road this season, batting a paltry .238 away from home.

Hellickson (2-0, 3.26 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) has had one great outing, one average start and one terrible appearance this season. He started the year by blanking the Yankees for 8.2 innings, then was rocked in Boston (5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 HR) before settling down for a decent showing Thursday in Toronto. He held the Blue Jays to two earned runs in 5.2 innings, but allowed nine base-runners (6 HR, 3 BB) and struck out four.

Hellickson has made just one career start against L.A., allowing three runs in 5.2 innings last April. However, 10 of the 17 outs he recorded that game were strikeouts. Hellickson should get some decent run support, as the Rays have scored 6.7 runs, thanks in part to 13 homers, over their past six games. 

- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter