Winners of six straight, the Oakland Athletics are playing fantastic baseball ahead of a nine-game homestand vs American League West rivals. The A’s open things up against the struggling Seattle Mariners on Friday, where sportsbooks opened Oakland as a -152 home favorite with a total of 9.5.
Mariners vs Athletics Game Center
Standout Stats
- Oakland will be without the services of Khris Davis for the time being, as the slugger was placed on the 10-day injured list prior to tonight’s game with a hip and/or oblique injury.
- Seattle has dropped six of its last seven after getting swept by Texas, falling to 10-27 SU since a sizzling 13-2 SU start. After hitting 56 home runs in their first 25 games of the season, the M’s have recorded only 37 in their last 26 contests.
- Wade LeBlanc will get the start for the Mariners. LeBlanc (2-1, 7.36 ERA) allowed four home runs among seven hits and seven runs in 2.1 innings of an 18-4 loss to Minnesota last Saturday. The 34-year-old is 3-0 with a 3.31 ERA in seven games (five starts) against the Athletics.
- Daniel Mengden will counter for Oakland. Mengden (1-1, 3.65) yielded one run, three hits and two walks along with five strikeouts in seven innings of a 4-1 triumph against Detroit last Saturday. The hurler permitted four runs, five hits and four walks in 5.1 frames of a 5-3 loss to Cleveland on May 12.
- Seattle claimed the first four meetings with Oakland earlier this year, including the season-opening two-game series in Japan and two more matches in Seattle in early May.
- Is another OVER in store in this series? The OVER is 8-2 in the past 10 meetings between the AL West rivals with an average combined score of 12 runs.
My Best Bet for Mariners-Athletics
OVER 9.5 runs
With Seattle and Oakland’s penchant for going OVER totals, I’m going to tail that trend in the series opener tonight and take the OVER 9.5 runs. LeBlanc looked shaky in his last outing against the Twins, and while the Mariners aren’t nearly as consistent on offense as Minnesota right now, I still like the M’s going against him in this spot.
The total has gone OVER in eight of the Mariners’ last 10 games vs the Athletics. The Mariners are 4-0 SU in their last four games vs the Athletics. The visiting team is 4-1 ATS in its last five games in this matchup.
