It is a weekend interleague series between the Oakland Athletics and Miami Marlins. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with an Athletics-Marlins prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Athletics nearly pulled off the impossible, coming close to sweeping a three-game series with the Braves. They lost game three, but still took two of three from one of the best teams in baseball. The A's had lost 11 straight games before that series and now have won just their second series of the season. The Marlins lost two of three games to the Padres, falling 10-1 yesterday. They are 5-5 in their last ten games and sit at 29-28 on the season.
Here are the Athletics-Marlins MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Athletics-Marlins Odds
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-122)
Miami Marlins: -1.5 (+102)
Over: 8.5 (-115)
Under: 8.5 (-105)
How To Watch Athletics vs. Marlins
TV: NBCSA/BSFL
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 6:40 PM ET/ 3:40 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
The Athletics hold the worst offense in the majors. They are last in runs scored and batting average this year. They are in the bottom three in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The seven runs they scored in the first game of the Braves series was the first time they had scored more than four runs since May 17th in a win over the Diamondbacks. In between those two games, they lost 11 times, and scored three or fewer runs in each of those games.
Ryan Noda has been leading the offense as of late. In the past week, he has drivien in four runs, with two home runs and hitting .222. Noda has shown his most power against right-handed pitching this year. He is hitting .238 against right-handed pitching while hitting five home runs and 15 RBIs. Also showing power against right handed pitching is Brent Rooker. He has struggled recently, hitting under .200 over the last month. Still, he had six home runs and 20 RBIs against right-handed pitching. If he can show a little more power today, the Athletics may be able to keep this game close.
The Athletics will be sending Shintaro Fujinami to the mound today. Fujinami is 2-5 on the year with a 12.00 ERA. His first four appearances of the season were as a starter before he was moved to the bullpen. In those four starts, he was 0-4 with a 14.40 ERA. In two of those starts, he gave up eight runs in just 2.1 innings of work. His best start of the year was six innings and giving up three runs, but still took the loss.
Why The Marlins Could Cover The Spread
The Marlins needs to figure out how to get runs across the plate. They are batting well oferall, sitting ninth in the majors with a .257 batting average. They are 27th in runs though, due to a .244 batting average with runners in scoring position. Miami is 23rd in the league in those situations and strikes out the 6th most in the majors with runners in scoring position.
While the team as a whole has struggled with runners in scoring position, Luis Arraez has not. He is hitting .405 with runners in scoring position on the year and has driven in 19 runs in those situations. Arraez leads the majors with a .382 batting average on the season. He did leave the game Thursday with a leg injury and is considered day-to-day. If he cannot go in this one, that will be a major loss for this offense. The offense is already missing Jazz Chisholm and cannot afford to lose too many more bats. If Arraez is out, Jorge Soler will need to pick up the slack. He is tied for third in the majors with 17 home runs on the season. Over the last month, he has hit 12 home runs and driven in 25 runs.
Edward Cabrera will take the mound today for the Marlins. He is 3-4 with a 5.02 ERA this season. He has given up two or more runs in each of his last five starts and struggled with command at times this year. Cabrera has six starts this year where he has walked four or more batters. The command will be key for Cabrera today. If he can keep the ball in the strike zone, he should be able to get outs against this poor Athletics offense.
Final Athletics-Marlins Prediction & Pick
The Athletics send the worst offense in baseball onto the field today. To make matters worse, they send a pitcher with a 12.00 ERA and 1.97 WHIP to the mound. When moved to the bullpen in May, his ERA improved. His ERA improved with a month in which he had a 10.50 ERA. The Marlins may not be the best-scoring team in the majors, but they do hit well. They will easily get enough hits today to do some damage. They win this one with ease.
Final Athletics-Marlins Prediction & Pick: Marlins -1.5 (+102)
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