Jesse Chavez (4-7, 3.02 ERA) and the Oakland Athletics (37-45) go up against J.A. Happ (3-5, 3.89 ERA) and the Seattle Mariners (36-43) in the second of a four-game division series at O.C. Coliseum. The Athletics won the last game 4-0 and Oakland leads the series 1-0. The game starts at 9:05 p.m. ET on Friday, Jul. 3 and will air on ROOT-NW and CSN-CA.
Chavez has a 3.03 ERA and a 0-3 record in his career against the Mariners, and is up against a less-than-stellar Seattle offense that’s hitting just .229 on the year. Josh Reddick (.287, 35 Rs, 11 HRs, 49 RBIs, 3 SBs) went 1 for 3 yesterday. In his career against the Athletics, Happ is 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA. He meets a strong Oakland offense that’s batting .258.
Oakland is a -150 favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at seven runs. The Athletics are 24-28 as the favorite and have an overall money line of -1,757. They have a 19-22 record SU and are 13-13 as favorite within their division. They have been very patient at the plate, ranking fourth in the AL with an average of 3.2 walks per game. Turning to the pitching staff, the Athletics rank third in the AL in ERA with a 3.46 team average. The Athletics don’t give up many hits to opposing batters, ranking fourth in the AL with only 8.0 hits allowed per game.
On the other side, the Mariners have a record of 16-15 when they are the underdog and are -1,124 overall with the money line. Over the past 10 matchups, they are 5-5 SU and have played well as the underdog with a 4-1 record. Seattle’s pitching staff has allowed an average of 2.9 runs per game during the last 10 games, lower than their season average of 3.9.
The Mariners have gotten the best of the Athletics in head-to-head matchups this season, going 5-2. The Athletics will take on a left-hander (Happ) in this game. They have struggled against left-handed starting pitchers this season, going 4-14. The right-handed Chavez will take the mound against the Mariners, who have a 29-33 record against righty starters this season.
Predictions: SU Winner – OAK, O/U – Under
Notes
Oakland earned its 10th shutout of the season in its last game. Seattle has been shut out eight times this season.
The Mariners are 4-6 in games that go into extra innings. Meanwhile, the Athletics are 0-6 in such matchups.
Having scored zero runs in their last game, the Mariners are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Athletics have a 10-0 record in games where opponents scored that many runs.
When they outhit their opponents, the Mariners are 20-13. The Athletics have a 28-11 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 29th, Seattle sits near the bottom of the league in runs, scoring 267 this season. Oakland ranks in the top five at third with 364.
Ranking 18th, Seattle is in the bottom half of the league in walks, notching 220 this season. Oakland ranks in the top five at fifth with 258.
The Athletics are 24-20 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Mariners are 30-19 when they hit at least one homer.
