The San Francisco Giants will look to sweep their mini two-game set with the Los Angeles Angels when the teams meet in Anaheim on Wednesday afternoon.
After blanking the Angels 5-0 in the series opener behind a strong performance from Anthony DeSclafani, the Giants will turn to ace Kevin Gausman, who has been dynamite this season. Los Angeles will counter with its own high-end arm in Shohei Ohtani.
Find out who we like to win this stud pitching matchup in our best free MLB betting picks and predictions for Giants vs. Angels on June 23.
Giants vs Angels game info
• Location: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA
• Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021
• Time: 4:07 p.m. ET
• TV: NBCBA, BSN
Giants vs Angels odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Compare MLB odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
MLB sharp money and line movement report
By Patrick EversonThis moneyline has seen very little movement early on at DraftKings, where San Francisco opened -115 Tuesday evening, dipped to -112 and is -114 at 12:15 p.m. ET. The Giants are taking 55 percent of bets and 73 percent of cash on the moneyline. The total rose from 7.5 (Over -118) to 8 (Over -113), with 75 percent of bets on the Over, but 57 percent of cash on the Under.
Check out the full line movement for this gameGiants vs Angels betting preview
Starting pitchers
Kevin Gausman (8-1, 1.51 ERA): Gausman has been dealing, following up a strong first year with the Giants with the best season of his career. He's about to hit his career-best mark in WAR three months into the season and has been one of baseball's most elite arms by nearly any statistical measure. He has surrendered exactly two runs in each of his last three starts after going eight consecutive outings allowing one or zero runs. Yeah, he's good.
Shohei Ohtani (3-1, 2.70 ERA): Ohtani went from wild arm with great stuff to a front-of-the-rotation staple after April. He has harnessed his control and has a 7.66 strikeout-to-walk rate over three June starts (it was 1.76 in his first three starts this season). The Angels have won each of his last three outings after losing every start of his in May.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Giants: Tommy La Stella 2B (Out), Evan Longoria 3B (Out).
Angels: Mike Trout OF (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 4-0 in Gausman's last four starts as a road favorite. Find more MLB betting trends for Giants vs. Angels.
Moneyline pick
San Francisco isn't slowing down and looks more real with each passing week. In a division that features two of the game's biggest powerhouses in the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, it's the Giants who sit on top of the NL West with a 47-26 record.
The Giants are 8-2 in their past 10 games and have been the best money-making team for bettors this season, both on the moneyline and the runline. They have a surprisingly strong offense that ranks third in the majors in OPS, a defense that rates well from an advanced stats perspective, and a pitching staff that's third in ERA.
Being strong in all three of those areas has propelled San Francisco to a .644 winning percentage — the best mark in baseball.
Looking for a split today won't be easy for the Angels with a rejuvenated Gausman on the mound.
Talent has never been in question with Gausman, but he's never quite delivered on the hype that made him a fourth-overall pick and one of the game's top prospects when he broke into the bigs with the Baltimore Orioles. But he's always shown that he's perhaps a step or two away from breaking out and that's exactly what he's done this season.
Gausman has been one of MLB's top pitchers and enters this start fourth in FanGraphs' pitcher WAR with career-best marks across a number of categories. San Francisco has won 10 of his 14 starts and he has allowed more than two runs in an outing just once this season, back in April.
Even with Ohtani on the mound, we're not going against baseball's best team with its best pitcher on the mound. Take the Giants as slim favorites.
PREDICTION: San Francisco (-120)
Over/Under pick
It's hard to see much offense in this game with Gausman and Ohtani toeing the rubber.
Gausman has consistently been going six-plus innings for the Giants and has a 1.51 ERA. Following him will be a lethal San Francisco bullpen that has a 3.43 ERA (sixth in baseball), 1.14 WHIP (fourth), and 7.8 walk percentage that's the second-best mark in MLB. The Angels are going to find it hard to generate offense a night after DeSclafani and a pair of Giants relievers pitched a shutout and held them to six hits.
And of course, we have Ohtani on the other side. The two-way star continues to deliver both at the plate and on the mound, where he has allowed more than three runs in a start only once this season. Although the Angels have been reluctant to ride his pitch count up high — he hasn't thrown 100 pitches in a start once and has hit the 90-pitch mark only twice — he's been able to log six innings in three of his last four outings thanks to correcting the control problems that murdered him earlier on.
Ohtani has walked three batters over his last four starts, compared to the 19 free passes he issued in his first four starts of the season. With his lights-out stuff, this has made him significantly more difficult to do damage against. As long as Ohtani isn't his own worst enemy with the walks, he should be able to contain any offense thrown at him. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 50 innings, his .176 batting average against is 10th in baseball (Gausman is fourth at a measly .157).
While both teams have Top-10 offenses in baseball, according to FanGraphs' wRC+, we're banking on pitching ruling the day. Get ready for Gausman and Ohtani to be pumping heat and wipeout splitters (they have the two most valuable splitters in baseball, per Statcast) past hitters all game in what will be a terrific pitchers' duel.
PREDICTION: Under 8 (-115)
Giants vs Angels betting card
- San Francisco (-120)
- Under 8 (-115)
Picks made on 6/23/2021 at 9:26 a.m. ET
Did you know that if you parlayed today’s MLB Giants vs. Angels picks, you could win $24.28 on a $10 bet?
Use our MLB parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
Where can I bet on MLB odds?
You can bet on MLB odds at every online and casino sportsbook, including MLB moneylines, runlines, Over/Under totals, and a ton of MLB prop odds. Head over to our best-suggested sportsbooks for the top spots to bet on MLB odds in your area.
