Saturday afternoon baseball and we will see the Baltimore Orioles take on the Oakland A's at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California. First pitch is scheduled for a 4:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally. Current Betting Odds, according to Sportsbook.ag, have Oakland listed as the favorite.
Current Odds
Baltimore +133
Oakland - 143
Over/ Under: 8 U -115
Analysis: The Baltimore Orioles had only three victories in their last 19 games at the Oakland Coliseum coming into the series. They can match that in the third of a four-game set against the Athletics on Saturday afternoon. The Orioles scored 10 runs in the opener and blanked the struggling Athletics 3-0 on Friday. Baltimore has won seven of its last nine overall and has recorded at least five runs 13 times in 23 games. Chris Davis leads the Orioles' offense with 24 RBIs and 20-year-old Manny Machado has been productive with 14. Chris Tillman has not continued his outstanding form from 2012 when he finished 9-3 with a 2.93 ERA. The right-hander did have his best of four outings Monday, allowing four hits and one run in 6 2/3 innings. Tillman has given up 23 hits in 20 2/3 innings overall, including three homers, and has walked 11. In one career outing against Oakland, he allowed one earned run in 4 1/3 innings without getting a decision.
The Athletics (13-11), meanwhile, have lost seven of eight. Behind the slide has been a serious drop in power production. They hit 19 home runs during a 9-2 start, the most in the majors during that span, but have just five homers while going 4-9 since. They're homerless in five of the last seven. Jed Lowrie hasn't homered since hitting three in his first seven contests, and Coco Crisp has one over his last 13 games after going deep in four straight games from April 5-9. The loss of Yoenis Cespedes, who had three home runs before succumbing to a strained left thumb April 12, also hasn't helped, though he's likely to be activated for Sunday's game. Oakland starter A.J. Griffin (2-1, 4.50 ERA) will try and shake off the worst performance of his young career. Griffin started the season with three strong outings before getting pounded for nine runs (seven earned) over four innings against the Boston Red Sox on Monday. The right-hander surrendered only five runs in his first three starts after a solid rookie season in 2012 when he finished 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA. Left-handed hitters are only batting .239 against Griffin, who has never faced the Orioles.
Pick: Im going to go with the A's to get one back here. Oakland has been struggling, but I feel they have a solid pitching edge on the mound for this one. AJ Griffin has 4 starts on the year and his ERA 4.50, but that has been skewed by his last start at Boston, in which he allowed 7 ER's in 4 Innings. In his first 3 starts this year AJ went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and he is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 2 home starts this year. In his career AJ is 9-2 with a 3.38 ERA verall, including a perfect 4-0 mark with a 3.17 ERA in 10 starts in this park. Chris Tillman comes in with an 0-1 mark and a 5.23 ERA in 4 starts this year. In his career Chris is just 16-19 with a 4.76 ERA in 55 starts, while in 29 career road starts he is 8-11 with a 4.66 ERA. Let's also note that Chris is a slow starter, going 2-7 with a 5.49 ERA in 19 starts from March to June. The Orioles do have the better offense, but the A's have shown they have some pop as well and behind the edge they have on the mound they should come up with a big win in this one. KEY TRENDS--- The A's are 15-3 in Griffin's last 18 starts overall and 9-1 in his 10 career regular season home starts.
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MLB Free Picks: Baltimore Orioles at Oakland As Betting
What baseball bettors need to know about Baltimore Orioles at Oakland A's on Saturday (4/27/13) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Marco D'Angelo, with Ken Thomson.