7* LA Angels (9:38 ET): This is the first game I gravitated towards today. I did so for a variety of reasons, chief among them my belief the White Sox are a team that ought to have a worse record. Favored to win the AL Central coming into the season, the Southsiders have been outscored by 45 runs in their 73 games. All things considered, they should feel fortunate to even be within three games of .500. While the White Sox won 11-4 last night (after falling behind 3-0 early), remember that the home team came out ahead 4-3 in Monday’s opener when I took them. Back on the Angels’ bandwagon tonight.

Another reason I like the Halos in this matchup is that they’ll have Shohei Ohtani on the mound. Not only has Ohtani won three consecutive starts coming into this game, but he’s done so by allowing just one and nine hits total. That’s in 21 innings pitched. His last time out, I played Ohtani and the Angels and the Japanese superstar dazzled by striking out 13 Royals over eight shutout innings. That came the day after Ohtani had eight RBIs in a game. I know the White Sox had 17 hits in yesterday’s game, but this is a team that had scored a total of just 10 runs in its previous five games - combined. Ohtani should dominate.

Michael Kopech will be starting opposite Ohtani here. He’s off B2B losses, the last one coming at home to Baltimore. In addition to the likelihood of Kopech not getting much run support here, you’ve got to consider the fact the team’s win percentage as a road underdog of +125 to +175 is only .333 the last three seasons (including 4-8 so far in ‘22). Meanwhile, the Angels are 20-9 the L29 times they’ve been a home favorite of -175 or higher. The odds certainly tell the story here and Chicago is also just 6-23 its last 29 games out in LA. Look for the home team to bounce back behind Ohtani. 7* LA Angels