Stephen Nover

The Angels have two major problems here. They don't win on the road and they don't win for Reid Detmers. The Angels are 12-24 on the road and have lost in nine of Detmers' 14 starts.

The Diamondbacks play much better at home where they are 22-14.

Detmers has an impressive 97 strikeouts in 81 innings, but is saddled with a 4.00 ERA and has been victimized by a bad Angels bullpen that has the fifth highest ERA at 4.79 and lacks a reliable closer.

Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly has been pitching better after a slow start. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in six of his past seven starts. Kelly has a low bar as the Angels have the eighth lowest batting average and the highest strikeout percentage.

Kudos to the Wings for upsetting the Aces at home two days ago. But Dallas has lost its last two road games falling to the Lynx and expansion Fire. The Wings are on the road here in a letdown spot.

Unlike Dallas, Golden State made the playoffs last season. The Valkyries are good again this season. They have won their last three games with the victory margin being by an average of 10 points.

The Valkyries are the No. 1 defensive team in the WNBA. They are giving up an average of five fewer points per game than the Wings.

So I will lay this short number with the superior defensive team at home catching their opponent in a major letdown spot.

Seattle is home, has the better starting pitcher and the superior bullpen. Baltimore has the better offense, especially with Randy Arozarena out, but that is off-set by T-Mobile being such a strong pitcher's park.

The Mariners are 20-16 at home. Baltimore is 12-21 in road games. This is just the Orioles' second West Coast game of the season. They have dropped three straight away contests.

Orioles starting pitcher Kyle Bradish has a 4.30 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP while allowing 1.4 home runs and 4.8 walks per nine innings. Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby has a 4.07 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP while giving up 0.9 home runs and 2.3 walks per nine innings.

Seattle has the sixth lowest bullpen ERA at 3.43. Baltimore relievers rank 21st in ERA at 4.53.

The Sparks have the worst defense in the WNBA giving up 90.4 points a game. They also are third from the bottom in defensive field goal percentage. Center Cameron Brink is LA's top rim protector and best defensive player. She isn't going to play here against Minnesota because of an ankle injury making the Sparks' defense even worse. 

The Lynx happen to be the top scoring team in the league at 92.6 points per game. They also rank No. 1 in field goal percentage and three-point shooting. Minnesota is in great offensive form averaging 101.3 points per game during its last three contests.

Lynx point guard Olivia Miles isn't just a heavy favorite to win Rookie of the Year. She is a solid MVP candidate.

LA is not going to slow down Minnesota. However, the Sparks have the offensive talent and motivation to keep this close. The Sparks have something to prove after scoring a season-low 58 points in a 78-58 road loss to the Valkyries this past Monday. Brink was injured in that game.

The Sparks are averaging 95 points during their last four home games, excluding a bad performance against the Aces. LA point guard Kelsey Plum also is in the MVP discussion. She ranks second in scoring, fourth in 3-pointers per game and is sixth in assists.

Both teams feature multiple strong secondary scorers and each team plays at an above average tempo. The Sparks should play at even a faster pace with Brink out.