Friday night baseball and I will have a Free Pick in the game between the Oakland A's and the Seattle Mariners, which will be played at Safeco Park in Seattle. First pitch is scheduled for a 10:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.

Betting Odds

Oakland           -122
Seattle            +117

Over/ Under: 7 -110

This is game 1 of a 3 game series between these AL West Rivals. Both teams come in struggling as the A's come in at 12-18 overall and 8-9 on the road, while the Mariners are 11-17 on the year, including 5-7 at home. The Teams met earlier in Oakland and the Mariners took 2 of the 3 games played.  

Oakland ranks 5th in scoring (4.83 rpg), 8th  in hitting (.265) and 12th in homers (26), while on the mound they are 21st in ERA (4.18) and 14th in WHIP (1.25). Oakland has gone 10-3 in Gray's last 13 starts as a road favorite, but just 7-16 in their last 23 after scoring 5 runs or more in their previous game and 6-17 in their last 23 games as a favorite of -110 to -150. 

Seattle ranks 24th in scoring (3.64 rpg), 23rd in hitting (.236) and 5th in homers (35), while on the mound they are 22nd in ERA (4.31) and 21st in WHIP (1.34). Seattle has gone 7-3 in their last 10 games following an off day, but just 8-21 in their last 29 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5 and 1-7 in Walker's last 8 starts following a team loss in their previous game.

Getting the ball tonight for Oakland will be Sonny Gray, who is 4-0 with a slim 1.67 ERA on the year through 6 starts thus far. Sonny has started 8 games in his career vs the Mariners and he is 4-1 with a 2.21 ERA in those starts, while at Safco he is 3-0 with an 0.98 ERA in 4 career starts. 

Getting the ball for the Mariners tonight will be Tijuan Walker, who comes in at 1-3 on the year with an 8.74 ERA. He has struggled mightily so far. A big part of that ERA comes from an earlier start vs the A's this year, in which he allowed 9 ERs in just 3.1 innings of work in a 12-0 loss.

Pick: Neither team is playing all that well, but Oakland has the much better offense in this game and they have by far the better starter. The Mariners did win 2 of 3 in Oakland earlier in the year, but the one loss was the one that Walker pitched and he was shelled in that game for 9 runs in just 3.1 innings of work. Overall this year Walker has been horrible with an 8.74 ERA and a 2.03 WHIP, while sonny Gray comes in at 4-0 on the year with a 1.67 ERA and an 0.95 WHIP. Big edge on the mound for the A's. They also have a big edge at the plate, where they are 5th in scoring, while the Mariners are 24th. Oakland gets a measure of revenge after losing 2 of 3 at home to the Mariners back in April.  

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