Thursday afternoon baseball and we will see the Oakland A's take on the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco. First pitch is scheduled for a 3:45 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
Oakland -107
San Francisco -103
Over/ Under: 7.5 U -115
Analysis: The Oakland Athletics have won six straight games and 11 of their last 12 heading into Thursday’s series finale against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park, where the hometown fans are getting a little restless. While the Giants aim to snap a three-game losing streak, Oakland has moved eight games over .500 for the first time since April 17. Closer Grant Balfour has converted each of his last 30 save opportunities dating back to last season, and the offense could receive a boost this weekend when Josh Reddick (wrist) returns from the disabled list. Reddick is completing a minor-league rehab assignment and could play in Friday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox. AJ Griffin improved to 3-1 with a 3.06 ERA in five starts in May despite working 5 2/3 shaky innings against the Houston Astros last Saturday. The right-hander allowed four runs versus the Astros, including three solo homers, and he’s yielded seven runs over his last 11 2/3 innings. Griffin faced the Giants last June 24 in his major-league debut, surrendering two runs over six frames. The Athletics are 19-6 in his 25 career starts.
The Giants have relied on their starting rotation to win two World Series titles over the past three years, but they’ve had just two quality starts in their last 15 games. San Francisco has committed 25 errors this month, including three in Wednesday’s 9-6 loss. Hunter Pence had three hits, including a home run, Brett Pill went deep and both Andres Torres and Marco Scutaro ended with two hits and an RBI for the defending World Series champions, who are even with Colorado at 2 1/2 games behind Arizona for the NL West lead. The D'backs have won three in a row. After a promising start to the season, Zito has allowed 14 earned runs over his last three outings covering 17 1/3 innings. The 35-year-old lefty hasn’t won in his last six starts, including Saturday's outing against Colorado in which he gave up four runs in six innings. Zito, who is 2-4 with a 7.16 ERA is six career starts against his former team, allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings in his one outing against the Athletics last season. he Giants optioned LHP Mike Kickham to Triple-A Fresno and recalled reliever Ramon Ramirez. Kickham allowed four runs over 2 1/3 innings in his major league debut on Tuesday.
Pick: I so wanted to make this a 4 Unit play, but the fact that the line is just 7.5 scares me a bit, especially since these teams have been scoring a ton lately, their isn't good pitching on the mound and the wind is blowing out at 12 mph. Barry Zito had a good start to the year, but has a 7.27 ERA in his last 3 starts. I know that two of those starts were vs the Rockies powerful offense, but the Oakland offense has been just as strong of late, putting up 5.7 rpg in their last 10 games, plus they have averaged 5.09 rpg on the road this year. The Giant offense has been solid of late as they have averaged 4.6 rpg in their last 5 games, while also averaging a solid 4.59 rpg at home. AJ Griffin has done a nice job for the A's this year, but he can struggle on the road where he has a 5.40 ERA in his last 4 starts. He has also been bit by the long ball allowing 7 homers in those last 4 road games, including allowing 3 to a weak hitting Houston squad last time out. Even day night pitchers stats don't really say low scoring game. Yes Zito has a 2.38 ERA in day starts this year, but in 142 career day starts his ERA is 4.17, while Griffin has a 4.76 ERA in day starts. I hope im not missing something here, because I just don't see how this game will fail to put up at least 8 runs.
RJ BELL FRIDAY NIGHT CHALLENGE! You could win a chance to play for $50,000 CASH! CLICK HERE
-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
March Marco Contest is back. FREE to Enter!!! CLICK TO ENTER
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for Baseball Season with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!
MLB Replay System
Vegas Runner, Bryan Leonard at host Steve Fezzik discuss the current MLB replay system, with ideas on how to tweak it.