Sonny Gray (9-3, 2.09 ERA) takes the hill for the Oakland Athletics (35-44) as they square off against Jorge De La Rosa (4-3, 5.15 ERA) and the Colorado Rockies (33-43) in the second of a three-game series at O.C. Coliseum. The Athletics won the last game 7-1 and Oakland leads the series 1-0. Action begins at 10:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Jun. 30 and can be seen on ROOT-RM and CSN-CA.
Gray pitched 6.0 innings in his last outing, surrendering three runs, striking out seven and walking one in a 6-3 win over the Rangers. Stephen Vogt (.304, 39 Rs, 13 HRs, 53 RBIs) had another good game yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one run. De La Rosa is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA when pitching against the Athletics. He is up against a good Oakland offense which is hitting .260 this season. Troy Tulowitzki (.322, 40 Rs, 8 HRs, 41 RBIs) has been successful at the plate, going 3 for 3 yesterday.
Oakland is a -168 favorite against Colorado and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at seven runs. The Athletics have an overall money line of -1,812 and a record as the favorite of 22-27. In interleague play, they have a 1-1 record when they were the favorite and 3-1 SU. The Athletics have no trouble scoring as they rank fourth in the AL in offense with 4.5 runs per game. The Athletics are one of the best in the AL in terms of hits with an impressive 9.0 per game. Oakland is one of the best in the AL in terms of walks, earning an average of 3.1 per game. Oakland’s pitchers put it all together when National League teams are on the field. Its average runs allowed per game drops to 2.8 against NL teams, compared to its 4.0 season average. The Athletics are the third-best team in the AL at limiting hits during home games, allowing only 7.8 hits per game to their opponents this season.
In games where it is the underdog, Colorado has a 26-28 record and an overall money line of -564. Colorado has had a tough time against teams in the AL, coming in winless. They have a 0-5 record as the underdog and 0-6 SU. Offensively, they average 4.6 runs per game, which is tops in the NL. The Rockies have a dynamic offense, ranking fifth in the league with 236 extra base hits. The Rockies allow 5.1 runs per game, but does worse whenever an AL opponent is on the schedule. They bring that runs allowed average up to 6.2 against teams from the AL.
The Athletics have the edge in the season series, 1-0. The Athletics have a bad 4-13 record against left-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when De La Rosa takes the mound. Gray (RHP) will be on the hill against the Rockies, who have a 30-31 record against right-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – OAK, O/U – Over
Notes
When the Rockies play into extra innings, they have a 1-4 record. The Athletics are 0-6 when their games exceed nine innings.
Having scored one run in their last game, the Rockies are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Athletics have an 18-2 record in games where opponents scored that many runs or fewer.
When they outhit their opponents, the Athletics are 26-11. The Rockies have a 24-6 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking sixth, Colorado sits in the top 10 of the league in runs, scoring 345 this season. Oakland ranks in the top five at third with 355.
Ranking 25th, Colorado is near the bottom of the league in walks, notching 179 this season. Oakland ranks in the top five at fifth with 247.
The Athletics are 23-20 when they hit at least one home run. The Rockies perform similarly when they hit one or more homers with a 30-23 record.
