The Los Angeles Dodgers will try to preserve their league leading record tonight when they face the Oakland A's. Find out why I believe that bettors are better off looking at the matchup's total when it comes time to placing their picks.
The Los Angeles
Dodgers were shutout for just the third time during the 2012 MLB season on
Tuesday night in Oakland, but a pair of interesting trends signal that the team
with the best record in the majors could bounce back in the middle game of this
interleague series. I believe sports bettors should focus in on the total
when making a pick on this West Coast contest.
Dodgers have fallen
into a pattern of inconsistency
Los Angeles has
alternated wins and losses over its last eight games, suffering a 3-0 setback
to the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night inside the Oakland-Alameda County
Coliseum. The Dodgers have tallied a pair of impressive victories after
getting blanked in their previous contest, capturing a 7-2 home win over the
Atlanta Braves on April 23, while coming away with an 8-3 road win over the
Seattle Mariners on June 9. Oakland is currently playing its best
baseball of the season, winning six of its last seven games.
There’s no place like
home
Athletics starting
pitcher Tommy Milone (6-5, 4.48 ERA) will be making his first home start since
May 27 in this contest, which will likely make him the happiest 25-year-old in
the Bay Area. The left-hander has registered an impressive 4-1 record and
0.98 ERA in five starts at this ball park, surrendering just a single home run
in 36.2 combined innings, while limiting opponents to a .186 batting
average. Milone will be facing the Dodgers for the first time in his
career.
Nathan Eovaldi (0-2,
1.82 ERA) has watched the club drop all four of his efforts this season, as the
offense has provided just four total runs of support over that span. The
right-hander is 0-1 with a 1.54 ERA in two road outings, issuing six free
passes and striking out 10 in 11.2 innings. Eovaldi will also be making
his first lifetime appearance against tonight’s opponent, but has allowed just
one earned run in 12 combined innings in his two career interleague starts.
Sharp action landing
squarely on the home team
For the second
consecutive game, Oakland is receiving sharp action early on in the baseball betting
market, moving from a slight home underdog to favorite in the current MLB
betting odds. Tuesday’s line movement was one of the main reasons I
landed on the Athletics in the series opener.
Ethier misses Kemp’s
presence in the lineup
Dodgers outfielder
Andre Ethier leads the National League with 55 RBIs, but has failed to drive in
a run in a season high-tying four games. Matt Kemp (hamstring) landed on
the disabled list for the second time this year on May 31, which has caused the
club to suffer a power outage, hitting just five home runs in the last 18
games. Ethier has left the yard just once in that span.
Prediction
Both young starters
land in an advantageous situational spot in this affair, especially with umpire
Angel Hernandez behind home plate, with the UNDER going 8-3 in his 11
assignments (6.75 rpg). The Dodgers have fallen short of the number in
Eovaldi’s last seven starts as an underdog, while the Athletics have done so in
four of Milone’s last five home outings.
Pick: Under 7