MLB: Baltimore Orioles vs Oakland Athletics Weekend Preview
O’s Continue Road Trip With Two-Game Lead Over Yanks
The best thing to happen to the Baltimore Orioles (55-32) was to watch the Oakland Athletics (33-56) sweep the Los Angeles Angels, this way there will be no overlooking the hapless A’s.
Tonight marks the first game of a three-game series that will conclude a short six-game road trip for Baltimore before returning home for their final two series before the all-star break against the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees.
The Athletics magic number is 73 which is the amount of games left before the end of the season! The first pitch is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET / 6:40 p.m. PT and can be seen on MASN2 or NBCSportsCA, Let’s start our Orioles vs Athletics odds preview with a peek at tonight’s game one.
Baltimore Orioles vs Oakland Athletics 
Day/Time:
Location: Oakland Coliseum
Streaming: MASN2 & NBCSportsCA
Friday: Albert Suarez (Balt) 4-2, 2.43 vs Hogan Harris (Oak) 1-2, 3.18
The Baltimore Orioles are a -165 game-one favorite with a total of 8.5 (over -115). Predictable betting patterns show the public all over the Orioles with 90% of the money wagered and 86% of the total tickets. We’ve seen movement on the opening number after Baltimore opened at -185 at most properties.
That was before we saw two large wagers early on with each bet coming on the Athletics early at Bovada (+153) and FanDuel Iowa (+156). Overall there have been five significant moneyline wagers with all five hammering the Athletics. There have been seven professional wagers on the total, five are backing the over. Since the shift in numbers, it’s been all Orioles wagering.
Suarez bounced back against the Texas Rangers (6 IP, 3H, 0ER, 0BB, 2K) in a 2-1 Baltimore win after giving up five earned and 10 hits against the Houston Astros in five innings (8-1 Houston win). That broke a two-game stretch where Suarez allowed 8 earned in 8.2 innings (16 hits, 8 BB, 6K, 8.31 ERA).
The 34-year-old has been given just 3.44 runs per game of support and four runs or less in 8 of his 10 starts. Harris will be making just his seventh start after starting the season at AAA Las Vegas where he was 1-2 with a 7.67 ERA. Walks were a problem for Harris with 24 in 29.1 innings at Vegas but his control is better in Oakland with just 14 in 39.2 innings.
The former Lafayette Ragin’ Cajun is coming off his worst start against the Arizona Diamondbacks after allowing ten hits, three earned, one walk, and three strikeouts in 3.1 innings in a 3-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Harris receives even less run support at 2.95 runs per game.
We recommend looking at the over in tonight’s match-up. As far as the side is concerned, we know we’re not dealing with a team that’s threatening to cash any MLB playoff odds tickets this October, but the professionals are right in thinking that if the Athletics have a chance to win any of these games it’s game one.
Game Two: Cade Povich (Bal) 1-2, 4.05 vs Luis Medina (Oak) 1-3, 4.80
With Cole Irvin going to the bullpen, it’s up to rookie Cade Povich to keep his place as the Orioles’ fifth starter. Povich was efficient in his last start against the Texas Rangers, a 6-5 Orioles win, after throwing five innings, allowing five hits, two earned, three k’s, and no walks.
The former Nebraska Cornhusker did give up two homers in the win and now has allowed three in his last 10.2 innings. The O’s have won three of his five starts this season while giving Povich 4.91 runs of support. Medina will be making his seventh start and first since holding down the Arizona Diamondbacks for six innings before the bullpen blew the game in a 5-1 Snakes win.
Medina allowed four hits, one earned, three walks, and five k’s in the no-decision. Medina is getting just 1.70 runs in support of his starts with Oakland winning just one of the six. Medina made two starts at AAA Las Vegas, throwing just six innings while allowing seven earned runs.
We don’t have Saturday’s MLB lines yet but you can bet Baltimore will be a healthy favorite in this one. Our recommendation is a wager on the under in this one.
Sunday: Grayson Rodriguez (Balt) 10-3, 3.45 vs Mitch Spence (Oak) 5-4, 4.15
Believe it or not, the Oakland Athletics have a starter over .500 in Mitch Spence after limiting the Los Angeles Angels to one earned run in 5.1 innings in a 7-5 Athletics win. Spence will be going on three days rest after throwing 94 pitches in the win.
Oakland has scored just 3.60 runs per game in support of Spence and that number factors in his last game against the Angels where they put up seven runs. Oakland is 7-13 overall with Soence starts and 1-5 over his previous six. Rodriguez should be an all-star for the first time in his career after another terrific outing at Seattle (6.1 IP, 2H, 0ER, 4BB, 8K) in a 2-0 Baltimore victory.
Over his last two outings, Grayson has allowed just two earned runs in 13.1 innings, good for a 1.35 ERA. Our Sunday prediction for your MLB pick and parlays is to go under the total which should be eight. That wraps up our Orioles vs Athletics weekend odds preview, all the best with your weekend predictions.
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