Pittsburgh Pirates vs Los Angeles Angels Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 9/4/26, 10:40 AM  by Bill Christy in MLB Picks

The Los Angeles Angels begin a dreaded 9-game road trip to the East Coast as they begin to wrap up their season. They kick things off against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have slowly seen their postseason aspirations slip away. T

he Angels knew their shot at the playoffs was gone relatively early in the season. Now, they sit 34 games under .500 and have little to play for moving forward. They have lost 9 of their last 10, including their last two in a row. Granted, those losses all came against likely playoff teams. Tonight, they will use Ruan Johnson in the starting spot on the mound. He has looked good in his last 5 starts.

For the Pirates, the end of July and the entire month of August likely ended their playoff chances. They are not mathematically eliminated, but it will be a tough spot to get back into the wild-card race. They are coming off a 2-1 winning series against the Giants and will turn to Jared Jones to keep the momentum going in the series opener tonight. After allowing 8 runs to the Mets back in early August, Jones has looked better in his latest 3 starts, allowing just 6 total runs in that stretch.