TST Best Bets: September 8, 2026
Nick Wire
Host · Writer
The Los Angeles Angels dropped the series opener yesterday, 5-2, against the Boston Red Sox. It was their 12th loss in their past 14 games – many of which they scored three runs or less. Since Aug. 1, the Angels’ offense is hitting .216 with a 70 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus). More recently, since Sep. 1, the Angels are hitting .204 with a 50 wRC+.
The lone silver lining has been the starting pitching – which has been phenomenal overall in that stretch. Reid Detmers, who is one of the Angels’ recently flourishing arms, is expected to pitch this afternoon. Detmers has given up three earned runs in his past 33 innings pitched. He also has five consecutive outings of at-least six innings.
Opposite Detmers is Patrick Sandoval, the former Angel, pitching for the Red Sox. Sandoval is 1-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 49 innings this season. The Red Sox southpaw didn’t make his season debut until July 9 due to Tommy John Surgery that held him out of the entire 2025 season.
Sandoval gave up three earned runs in four innings in his last outing against the Seattle Mariners on Sep. 2.
First Pick: Zach Neto over 0.5 hits
Rundown: Neto is hitting .267 with an OPS of .812 against left handed pitchers this season. He sees the ball very well against lefties. Couple that with the fact that the Angels are familiar with Sandoval’s strengths (namely his changeup) and Neto should be prepared for success against Sandoval today. Since August 18th, Neto is hitting .333 with an OPS of .929. He has been the Angels best hitter as of late.
Second Pick: Patrick Sandoval over 5.5 strikeouts
Rundown: Sandoval throughout his career has been more of a putout pitcher. He gets a lot of flyouts – which in turn leaves him vulnerable to potential home runs. However, he’s not known as a strikeout pitcher. Looking at his recent stretch of games though, he’s struck out at-least six in three of his last four games. On top of that – the Angels strike out a lot. The Angels struck out 15 times yesterday. They have the second-most strikeouts in the MLB with 1,366 this season.
