In what has been a strange baseball season so far in the American League, at least one thing makes sense: the Los Angeles Angels are below .500. The Angels have the longest postseason drought in baseball, as they haven’t played a playoff game since 2011. That looks highly unlikely to change in 2026, as they’re currently the worst team in the American League at 17-31.

Los Angeles has lost 21 of its last 27 games after starting 11-11, and the road won’t necessarily get any easier moving forward, as it’ll play the second game of a four-game home set against the division-leading Athletics tonight at 9:38 p.m. ET. To be fair, the Angels did win Game 1, 2-1, as the Athletics’ offense failed JT Ginn.

Tonight, the Athletics will try to get their revenge with Jacob Lopez scheduled to take the hill, and Los Angeles will counter with Reid Detmers.

Let’s break down this matchup with some odds and lines at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Athletics at Los Angeles Angels prediction, preview

The Athletics have been pretty inconsistent on a game-to-game basis, recording only one winning streak and one losing streak longer than three games, but overall, they’re in poor form, having lost six of their last eight games. Just like last season, their offense hasn’t been an issue this season, as they rank ninth in OPS after finishing eighth in that stat in 2025. Nick Kurtz, fresh off of a Rookie of the Year campaign last season, still has an OPS north of .900 this season, and Shea Langeliers has broken out with an American League-leading .335 batting average. The issue has once again been their bullpen; after finishing 27th in bullpen ERA in 2025, they rank just 25th so far, and their staff overall has been the league’s eighth-worst in May. Mark Leiter Jr., brought in from the New York Yankees over the summer, has been the biggest culprit, pitching to a 6.86 ERA in 19.2 innings, though most of that can be tied to a couple of true blow-up outings than consistent mediocrity.

The Angels, on the other hand, haven’t really done anything well, ranking seventh-to-last in OPS, ninth-to-last in rotation ERA, and second-to-last in bullpen ERA. Mike Trout has, per usual, been perhaps the only bright in Los Angeles’ offense, as he has posted an .866 OPS in a bounce-back season, but Zach Neto and Jo Adell have both taken steps back after strong 2025 campaigns. The Angels’ bullpen was largely dragged down by closer Jordan Romano before his release, but their other options haven’t been that great either, with Brent Suter posting a 4.32 ERA and Ryan Zeferjahn a 4.50 mark. Los Angeles’ best hope may well be to keep Detmers in the game.

The Angels could stand a chance with Lopez on the mound. The southpaw hasn’t had the greatest season, pitching to just a 5.80 ERA, but he’s at least done a decent job with damage control when he’s on, giving up two or fewer earned runs in five of his last six starts. His Statcast profile is a mixed bag; while he ranks in the fifth percentile in pitching run value and the bottom sextile in fastball velocity, chase rate, whiff rate, strikeout rate, walk rate, and ground ball rate, he ranks above the median in expected ERA and in the top sextile in expected batting average, average exit velocity, hard hit rate, and extension. Lopez’s ability to induce soft contact should make him more effective than usual against Los Angeles, which has a below-average hard hit percentage as is, and the Angels’ extremely aggressive plate approach should mitigate some of his issues. The splits are mixed; Lopez has a career 5.56 ERA on the road in a not-insignificant 87.1-inning sample size, but Los Angeles has been horrific offensively at home this season and poor against lefties.

Detmers should still have the slight pitching edge. Despite being just 1-4 because of the Angels’ poor offense, he has been solid, pitching to a 4.20 ERA and giving up three or fewer earned runs in each of his last four starts. His advanced statistical profile backs up his stronger surface-level numbers, as he has a very solid 3.29 FIP, and he ranks in at least the 40th percentile in every single Statcast category. He’s particularly good at limiting hard hits, as his 36.2% hard-hit rate sits in the 67th percentile league-wide; that could be a particularly potent asset against the Athletics, who tend to mash the ball. Detmers has also done an excellent job striking batters out, so he could be in position to rack up plenty of punchouts against the aggressive Athletics. He’s at least pitched into the sixth inning in more than half of his starts this season, so he could keep the ball out of his bullpen’s hands, especially at home, where he’s been somewhat better in his career. The Athletics have also been a fair bit worse against lefties and away from hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park.

Athletics at Los Angeles Angels pick, best bet

Best Bet: Under 9 (-105)

Lopez’s poor form on the road is concerning, but Los Angeles’ relative indiscipline at the plate should make things easier for him. Additionally, the Athletics’ offense has been disappointing on the road, and they’ve plated just two runs across the past two games.

Strong Lean: Over 18.5 Total Strikeouts (-110)

Both of these teams get fanned a lot, with the Angels striking out 34 more times than any other team so far and the Athletics ranking 13th. The Athletics also have a higher strikeout rate against lefties than righties, and with Detmers starting and Suter possibly in line for work out of the bullpen, a majority of Los Angeles’ innings should be handled by southpaws.