Kendall Graveman (6-7, 3.84 ERA) and the Oakland Athletics (47-60) meet Wei-Yin Chen (5-6, 3.24 ERA) and the Baltimore Orioles (54-51) in the last of a three-game series at O.co Coliseum. The Athletics won the last game 5-0 and the series is currently tied 1-1. The game gets underway at 12:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Aug. 5 and will air on MASN.
In his last start, Graveman pitched 6.2 innings, allowing zero runs (one unearned), striking out six and walking two in a 2-1 loss to the Indians. Ben Zobrist (.272, 43 Rs, 9 HRs, 40 RBIs, 1 SB) went 1 for 4 yesterday with one RBI. The Orioles were unsuccessful the last time Chen pitched. He struggled, going 3.1 innings, giving up six runs and striking out six in an 8-7 loss to the Tigers. Manny Machado (.292, 67 Rs, 23 HRs, 56 RBIs, 15 SBs) went 1 for 4 yesterday with one RBI.
Oakland is a +120 underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is seven runs. The Athletics have a losing record of 17-28 when playing as the underdog and an overall money line of -2,165. Over the last 10 games, they have performed poorly when playing as the underdog (2-6). Oakland has averaged 2.7 runs per game over the last 10 games, lower than its season average of 4.1. Turning to the pitching and defensive side, teams routinely struggle to score runs against the Athletics, who allow only 3.5 runs per home game. The Athletics are third in the AL in hits allowed at home with just 7.7 per game.
On the other side, the Orioles have a record of 33-25 when they are favored and are -3 overall with the money line. They have played at the top of their game when rated as favorite recently. They managed a 6-2 record when playing as the favorite and an SU record of 8-2. Baltimore is one of the top home-run-hitting teams in the league with 134 home runs.
So far this season, the Orioles are 1-0 against the Athletics. The Athletics will take on a left-hander (Chen) in this game. They have struggled against left-handed starting pitchers this season, going 8-20. Taking the hill against the Orioles will be the right-hander Graveman. They sport a 39-41 record against righties.
Predictions: SU Winner – Bal, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Oakland’s last 6 games.
Oakland is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Oakland’s last 7 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Oakland’s last 7 games when playing Baltimore.
Oakland is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Baltimore.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Oakland’s last 7 games when playing at home against Baltimore.
When leading after 7 innings, Baltimore is 22-15, while Oakland is 21-28.
Having scored zero runs in their last game, the Orioles are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Athletics have a 13-0 record in games where opponents scored that many runs.
When they outhit their opponents, the Athletics are 37-13. The Orioles have a 39-11 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 13th, Oakland is in the top half of the league in runs, scoring 441 this season. Baltimore ranks in the top 10 at eighth with 464.
Ranking 24th, Baltimore is near the bottom of the league in walks, notching 259 this season. Oakland ranks in the top half at 13th with 302.
When the Athletics hit at least one home run, they are 30-24. When the Orioles hit at least one homer, they have a 47-27 record.
