The AL West Division’s 2 best teams will square off in the 2^nd of a 3-game series on Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Angels (15-8) and Houston Astros (16-8) collide. The opening pitch from Minute Maid Park in Houston is slated for 8:10 PM ET. The current MLB odds at Bookmaker indicates that Houston is a money line favorite of -142.

Recent Head to Head Series

During the past 3 seasons, Houston has gone 25-14 against the Angels, and that includes 13-8 when playing at home. The meetings that have taken place at Minute Maid Field have gone 13-7-1 under the total.

Probable Starting Pitchers

The Angels scheduled starting pitcher on Tuesday will be Japanese import Shoei Otani. The captivating right-hander has made 3 starts in this his first MLB season, and for the most part has shown very well. During those outings, he’s compiled a 3.60 ERA and an excellent 0.80 WHIP. On a negative note, Otani is coming off a shaky outing in his previous start when he allowed 3 earned runs on 4 hits while walking 2 in only 2.0 innings pitched. It must be noted, Otani was removed from that game after encountering a blister problem on his throwing hand that may have contributed to his poor performance. Tuesday will be Otani’s first ever start against Houston.

The Astros are slated to go with right-hander Charlie Morton for the middle game of this series. Morton has been nothing short of brilliant during his first 4 starts of 2018. Throughout those 4 outings, Morton has posted a terrific 0.72 ERA while striking out 33 and walking just 6 in 25.0 innings of work. Morton is a perfect 5-0 in his career team starts against the Angels while collecting a solid 3.14 ERA. Morton made 2 home starts against the Angels last season and had a superb 0.75 ERA during those appearances.

Dominant Angels Road Record

The Los Angeles Angels are a spectacular 10-1 in away games this season. After dropping their first road game of 2018 the Angels have gone on to win their next 10. Through this current 10-game road win streak, Los Angeles is outscoring their opponents by a decisive 4.0 runs per outing, and they’ve allowed a mere 2.2 runs per contest.

All Signs Point to Low Scoring Game

The Los Angeles Angels are presently a money line underdog of +128 in today’s game. Los Angeles is 44-19 (69.8%) under the total since last season as a money line underdog of +100 to +150. They’ve also gone under the total in each of their previous 3 games. Despite yesterday’s win, the Angels have scored 2 runs or less and had 6 hits or fewer in 6 of its last 7 games.

Houston has seen 8 of their first 10 home games go under the total. They’re now 17-7 (70.8%) under the total at home in the month of April during the past 2 seasons. The Astros offensive numbers have been far better when on the road than at home thus far in 2018. As a matter of fact, Houston has an anemic .216 team batting average and .611 OPS in 9 home games.

Eric Cooper is the scheduled home plate umpire for tonight’s game. Throughout the past 3 seasons, games that Cooper has been behind the plate have gone 34-21 (61.8%) under the total.

MLB Totals Betting Angle

I’ve already alluded to Shoei Otani’s stellar 0.80 WHIP in his 3 starts this season. Otani will have comfort in knowing that his teammates haven’t committed an error in any of their last 3 games. Presently, there’s a posted total of 8.0 on this AL West matchup according to MLB odds at Bookmaker. The combination of this statistical data sets up a profitable MLB betting angle illustrated below.

Any team (Angels) with a total of 7.0 to 8.5 that’s gone 3 straight games without committing an error, and their starting pitcher (Otani) has a WHIP of 0.80 or less in his last 3 starts, resulted in those contests going 78-35 (69%) under the total throughout the past 5 seasons.

Final Observations and Pick

I’m looking for this game to be an old fashioned starting pitchers duel. Furthermore, both team’s bullpens have been very good to start their 2018 MLB campaigns. Furthermore, we have a pitcher friendly home plate umpire (Cooper) in addition to Houston’s current offensive woes at home, and the Angels struggling to score runs of late. I’m predicting this to be a low scoring affair and one of my Tuesday MLB picks will indicative of such.

Pick: Under 8.0

Ross Benjamin is a top sports analyst and one of the sports industry's most respected handicappers. Follow him on Twitter: @RossBenjamin1 or visit his website at RBWins.com.