Tonight’s interleague matchup is intriguing, as the Los Angeles Angels (53-87) travel across the country after a nine-game homestand to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates (69-72) at PNC Park this evening. The Angels have been awful this season and will continue the longest postseason drought in Major League Baseball at 12 seasons. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has achieved a minor win this season: relevancy. The Pirates have been straddling the line of .500 baseball all season and, for the first time in a while, are building a bit of a foundation for future seasons. 

Before this evening’s first pitch at 6:40 PM ET, let’s go over the betting angles, review both teams and then make a prediction for this game.

MLB Betting Odds and Trends

The Pirates check in as -200 favourites on the MLB odds board with the total at 8.5.

Knowing that the worst road team is entering PNC Park, I’m immediately wanting to cement the Pirates here in this one. Obviously, baseball is a fickle mistress, but the Pirates potentially getting back an integral piece of their offence in Konnor Griffin definitely puts another feather in the cap of the home team. Taking Pittsburgh -1.5 feels really good here for tonight’s game.

Los Angeles Angels

What do you say about a team that’s likely to lose 100 games this season? Well, they’ve got some solid offensive pieces, like Zach Neto and his 3.7 WAR, 23 HR and 66 RBI at shortstop. Mike Trout remains an Angel and at the wrong side of 30, but he’s stayed relatively healthy this season and is about to post a 3.0+ WAR for the first time since 2022. The power bat and the eye are still there, and he’s running a little more too with 11 stolen bases this season. Still, this offence is very much a work in progress, as the Angels have cycled through numerous position players and will continue to do so in the season’s final month. Luckily, they’ve found a couple pitchers in Reid Detmers (3.44 ERA, 10.1 K/9) and Walbert Urena (2.85 ERA) that they can potentially grow with as they rebuild.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates, winners of four of their last five games, would very much be in the Wild Card mix if they were in the American League, but alas. That said, the Pirates have the youth and talent off which to build with Paul Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft, who has been awesome this season for the Buccos, with a 14-5 record and a 3.59 ERA in 27 starts.

It’s actually been Pittsburgh’s offence that’s carried them around the .500 mark. Longtime Pirate Bryan Reynolds (3.2 WAR, 15 HR, 66 RBI) still patrols the outfield and Oneil Cruz is still must-watch baseball with his cannon for an arm and exit velocity effortlessly eclipsing triple-digit MPH. However, the Pirates’ future revolves around the face of the franchise in Griffin, who may come off the IL for tonight’s game. Griffin is expected to put everything together for the rest of this decade to become one of the biggest stars in baseball and bring playoff baseball back to Pittsburgh.

Who Will Win Angels vs. Pirates?

Tonight’s starting pitcher for the Angels is Ryan Johnson, who has been pitching extremely well after a harrowing first half of the season. Johnson was carrying a double-digit ERA into his sixth appearance in late-June, so that should tell you how bad that was. In August, Johnson sported a 1.71 ERA and only gave up six earned runs across 26 ⅓ innings, so he’s been on the right track for the Angels.

For Pittsburgh, it’s Jared Jones taking the hill, and he has not been great for Pittsburgh, with a 7.40 ERA in August and an 0-4 record. Jones will look to bounce back here against the worst road team in baseball this season, though.

Today’s game should be entertaining, but we’re going to go with the Pirates here based on the Angels being pretty bad in general on the road and the Pirates potentially getting a boost from a potential Griffin return tonight.

ANGELS

Away

3

PIRATES

Home

7

Score
Predictions

Matchup