Well, the Oakland A’s are in a freefall. While they were able to pull a win out against the White Sox on Wednesday, they’ve still lost four of five and now sit six games out of first place in the AL West, slipping behind the Mariners for third place in the division. The comeback starts now, with a chance to put together a two-game winning streak against Chicago in the rubber match in Oakland. While the struggle has been real, the pitching matchup here offers hope for the A’s with lefty Sean Manaea pitching. Because of that, they opened as decently heavy favorites.
Is that fair, though? How much is truly between these teams? Can we pick out a winner here, or should we target the total? Without further ado, let’s take a look into the MLB odds and how you should be wagering over at the top-rated sportsbooks.
Thursday, September 09, 2021 – 03:37 PM EDT at RingCentral Coliseum
The White Sox all but have this baby wrapped up. They lead the Indians comfortably in the AL Central by 11 games and have little to play for at this point. They lost yet another series to the Kansas City Royals (that has happened three times now in the second half) and don’t seem to be overly motivated at the plate. Despite, that, Chicago is still winning enough ballgames to remain a threat with seven wins in its last 11 tries.
One guy who has been pitching like a winner is Reynaldo Lopez, who has put together some great outings around two four-inning stints where he allowed three earned runs. The once-promising prospect has flashed his great strikeout upside at times this year and his 3.11 xERA offers plenty of hope entering a matchup with a very good offense. His 35.1% hard-hit rate should help quiet the A’s while his 27.1% strikeout rate goes to work for him.
I know I opened this part of the preview by expressing how the White Sox really have nothing to play for, but it’s also important to note that they have a 132 wRC+ over the last two weeks, which is the best in baseball. There’s no reason to be this hot, and even though it’s come and gone it’s still been a dangerous proposition to bet against the White Sox this month.
Every game counts at this point for the A’s, who have slipped in the aforementioned division race and now sit three games out of the wild card in the American League. They will first need to climb above Seattle and Oakland, who have looked very strong of late, they would need to supplant the Yankees and Red Sox, who currently lead the race. While the Yankees have struggled of late, they still have the most talent of anyone in the AL, and the Red Sox have begun to feel it again.
The pressure is on, but it’s hard to criticize the way the A’s are playing. They rank 10th in offensive production over the last two weeks with a 107 wRC+ and have limited their strikeouts to just 20.8%. Oakland is also eighth in contact rate over that span.
It will send Sean Manaea to the hill here, who is coming off a great outing in which he struck out nine over seven innings of two-run ball against the Blue Jays, who may be the hottest team in baseball at the moment. Manaea looks to be rounding back into form with his strikeouts on the rise, which is great news for Oakland. The lefty was one of the very best pitchers in the game before the break and has since fallen off in the second half.
It’s hard not to love the A’s here at home with everything to play for and with Manaea shoving of late. This team should manage to get some runs on the board against Lopez, who is coming off a bad outing, while Manaea goes to work for them.
MLB Pick: A’s -145 at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.