With a recent spurt the Oakland A's have climbed from
nine games under .500 to break-even. Can Oakland get back above that .500 mark
when it takes on the Seattle Mariners in the second-game of a three-game set Saturday
night?
M's vs. A's: Saturday
Set-Up
Oakland won the opener of this series Friday night 4-1 on a
walk-off, three-run homer by Chris Carter. The A's were victorious as -160
favorites on the MLB betting board, and the game stayed 'under' its total of
seven.
So the A's, 16-7 over their last 23 games and now at 42-42
overall, are in third place in the AL West, eight games back of the
division-leading Rangers.
Meanwhile, the M's, at an AL-worst 35-50, are in last place,
15.5 games out of first.
Oakland has won five in a row, even though it's scored a
total of just 19 runs over that span. And 15 of the A's last 18 games have
played 'under' on the totals.
Seattle has scored a total of 22 runs over its last 12
games, eight of those being losses. And 11 of the Mariners' last 13 games have
stayed 'under' on the totals.
Saturday's Pitching
Matchup
Oakland will throw hot rookie Jarrod Parker (5-3, 2.46)
Saturday (10:10 pm Eastern) vs. Seattle's Jason Vargas (7-7, 4.31).
Parker is a solid 10-for-13 on quality starts this season,
but the A's are only 7-6 in his starts. He's working on a run of four QS in a
row, having allowed just three ER over his last 26 2/3 innings. Most recently, Parker held Boston to one run over 6 2/3 innings last Monday, and on the season
he's given up two runs or fewer in 11 of his starts. Also, for the year, Parker
has allowed just 59 hits in 80 innings, although he has walked 39.
Parker has one career start vs. Seattle, and picked up a win
by holding the M's to one run in seven innings back on June 27.
On the other side of arms matchup lefty Vargas is
nine-for-18 on quality starts this season, and Seattle is 8-10 in games he's
started. In his last outing Vargas limited the Red Sox to one run on five hits
in eight innings last Sunday, and just before that he held the A's to two runs
on three hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out 10.
On the season Vargas has allowed 106 hits in 117 innings,
but 22 of those hits have been homers.
Vargas has already started three times against Oakland this
season, and has done pretty well, allowing five runs on 10 hits over 18 1/3
innings.
Saturday's Betting
Odds and Trends
As of Saturday morning Matchbook, among other MLB odds makers, was offering the A's at
-134, and the M's at +132. Oakland could also be gotten at +166 on the run line
at Matchbook.
Finally, most online sportsbooks are listing the total on
this game at 6.5.
In the early betting action on this game about 65 percent of
play on the side has come in on the A's, while about 55 percent of the play on
the total has come in, somewhat surprisingly, on the 'over.'
These two teams are a combined 69-96 on the OVERS/UNDERS this season.
Seattle actually leads the season series with Oakland six
games to five. Also, eight of those 11 meeting have stayed UNDER on the
totals, as this year's A's-M's games have averaged less than six runs per.
Free MLB Pick for
Saturday
Oakland has been
somewhat streaky this year, losing seven of its first 11 games, later winning
seven of 10, losing 14 of 18 and now winning 16 of 23. Right now, they're on a
good run, so we'll go with the A's for our free MLB pick for Saturday.
Pick: Athletics