Barry Zito (0-0, 18.00 ERA) and the Oakland Athletics (65-89) meet Tim Hudson (8-8, 4.20 ERA) and the San Francisco Giants (79-74) in the second of a three-game interleague series at O.co Coliseum. The Athletics won the last game 5-4 and Oakland leads the series 1-0. The game gets underway at 4:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sep. 26 and will air on CSCA, CSBy and MLBN.
In his last start, Zito pitched 1.0 innings, allowing two runs and walking one in a 5-1 loss to the Astros. Danny Valencia (.290, 52 Rs, 16 HRs, 61 RBIs, 2 SBs) went 1 for 4 yesterday with one run. The Giants were victorious over the Diamondbacks 5-1 the last time Hudson pitched. He went 6.0 innings, allowing zero runs, striking out three and walking three. Buster Posey (.323, 72 Rs, 19 HRs, 93 RBIs, 2 SBs) has been doing well, going 2 for 4 yesterday.
Oakland, a +115 underdog, will look to capitalize at home against San Francisco. The teams combine to set the Over/Under (O/U) at eight runs. The Athletics perform poorly as an underdog with a 31-52 record and have an overall money line of -3,041. They come into the game with notable records of 7-5 as the underdog and 10-7 SU against the National League. Oakland has averaged 4.9 runs per game during interleague play, higher than its season average of 4.2. They typically aren’t overmatched by pitchers, ranking second in the AL with an average of only 6.8 strikeouts per game. Oakland’s pitching staff has fallen apart in the past 10 games. Its average runs allowed per game rose to 6.9 during that span, compared to its 4.4 season average.
Moving on to the opposing team, the Giants come into this game with a win percentage of .582 when playing as the favorite (46-33) and an overall money line of -80. AL opponents haven’t been able to get the upper hand on fiery San Francisco. The Giants hold a record of 7-3 in games where they were ranked as the favorite and an 11-6 SU. The Giants rank fifth in the NL in scoring, averaging 4.3 runs per game. San Francisco’s pitching staff tends to perform well when they play competition from the AL. They’ve allowed an average of 2.6 runs per game against teams from the AL lower than their season average of 3.8.
The Giants are 3-1 against the Athletics this season. This game will feature Hudson (RHP) on the mound against the Athletics, who have a 50-57 record when they take on a right-handed starter. Taking the hill against the Giants will be the left-hander Zito. They sport an 18-20 record against southpaws.
Predictions: SU Winner – SF, O/U – Over
Notes
When leading after 7 innings, San Francisco is 37-23, while Oakland is 27-40.
The Giants are coming into this game after allowing two walks during their last outing. The Athletics have a 30-45 record when opponents give up that many walks or fewer.
When they outhit their opponents, the Athletics are 48-21. The Giants have a 68-14 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 17th, Oakland is in the bottom half of the league in runs, scoring 654 this season. San Francisco ranks in the top half at 14th with 658.
Oakland and San Francisco both rank in the bottom half of the league in walks. Oakland sits at 16th with 445 this season and San Francisco ranks 18th with 431.
The Athletics are 44-45 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Giants are 55-28 when they hit at least one homer.
