MLB Betting News: Shohei Ohtani puts his Team as Favorite against St. Louis

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Los Angeles Angels dual-threat star Shohei Ohtani is one of the most durable players in the major leagues as he has played at least 155 games in each of the past two seasons as an everyday player in addition to his pitching duties. Ohtani didn’t start Tuesday’s game in St. Louis as a designated hitter but will be at DH and on the mound against the Cardinals on Wednesday with the Angels as -140 favorites on the MLB odds. He would make pitching history by allowing three hits or fewer.

MLB Betting News: Angels’ Shohei Ohtani Can Make Pitching History Wednesday Vs. Cardinals

MLB Odds: Angels -1.5 | Cardinals +1.5
When: May 3, at 7:45 pm ET
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
TV / Streaming: MLB.tv

The 28-year-old two-way superstar is batting .294/.355/.541 with 18 runs scored, seven homers, 18 RBI and five stolen bases across 124 plate appearances. He made more history on Sunday by homering against the Brewers as Ohtani’s homer peaked at 162 feet above the field, the highest ball he’s hit this season, and it had a hang time of 6.98 seconds, the longest for any Angel home run since 2015.

Last Thursday against Oakland, Ohtani was the Angels winning pitcher and finished a home run shy of becoming the first starting pitcher in MLB history to hit for the cycle. He hit a first inning single, third inning double, sixth inning triple and had a 389-foot flyout to center field in his final at bat. Despite giving up five runs in six innings, Ohtani improved to 4-0 in the 8-7 win.

On the mound, Ohtani was utterly dominant for three innings before a wild fourth saw him hit two batters and give up his first two homers of the year. He rebounded from there, but that one inning took his ERA from 0.64 this year to 1.85.

Ohtani had his franchise record streak of 12 consecutive pitching starts allowing two-or-fewer runs snapped Thursday in the win. He leads the majors in opponent batting average (.102), ranks tied for fourth in strikeouts (46), is fifth in ERA (1.85) and is sixth in WHIP (0.82).

Wednesday will mark first career pitching appearance vs. Cardinals. Ohtani has an active streak of 10 consecutive pitching starts allowing three-or-fewer hits, tied with Jacob deGrom for longest streak in MLB history, excluding openers. Even though the A’s scored five runs off him last week, Ohtani allowed only three hits.

Ahead of Tuesday’s game, the team reinstated relief pitcher Ryan Tepera from the 15-day injured list. Tepera is 1-1 with an 11.25 ERA and one blown save in six appearances out of the bullpen this season. To open up room on the roster, the Angels optioned right-hander Andrew Wantz to Triple-A Salt Lake.

The Cardinals start right-hander Miles Mikolas (1-1, 5.97 ERA). He) earned the win over San Francisco last Thursday, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six batters over 6.1 scoreless innings. Mikolas came into Thursday having surrendered MLB’s worst batting average (.366) to opposing hitters. He had a 10.05 ERA through his first three starts of the season, but he has started to turn things around. He tossed a campaign-high 6.1 frames vs. the Giants and didn’t allow any runs while matching a season-best mark with six punchouts.

“That’s the guy we’re used to seeing. He was pounding the zone with literally everything and he got a lot of swing-and-miss with the slider. He did a really good job and gave us exactly what we needed,” Manager Carlos Marmol said.

Mikolas earned his first MLB win against the Angels while with the Padres on May 20, 2012, and is making his 3rd start and 5th career appearance vs. the Angels and his 2nd start and appearance as a member of the Cardinals. He pitched 5.0 innings in his last start, taking the loss, departing with a 1-0 deficit in a game the Cardinals lost 6-4 to the Angels at Busch Stadium on June 23, 2019. Mikolas has never faced Ohtani in a regular-season game.

Since moving into Busch Stadium III in 2006, the Cardinals have compiled a .500 or better record in the month of May in 12 of 16 seasons (missed 2000 due to COVID). Their best May in that time span was a 20-7 mark (.741 win pct.) in 2013, and their worst was a 9-18 (.333) spiral in 2019 on the heels of a strong 19-10 (.655) March/April start.

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