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Two of the worst team in their respective leagues face off as the Oakland Athletics visit the Washington Nationals. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with an Athletics-Nationals prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Athletics come into the game after shutting out the Rangers in their last game, but losing two of three overall. In the series, they clinched a losing season as they lost their 82nd game of the year. The Athletics now sit at 33-82 on the season. That is the worst record in the majors and places them on pace to lose 115 times in the year.
Meanwhile, the Nationals lost three of four to the Phillies, as some former Nationals shined for Philadelphia. In the series, the Nats also fell victim to a no-hitter, as they struggled at the plate. The Nationals now sit at 50-66 on the season, which is the worst record in the NL East and second worst in the National League. It is also the fifth-worst record in all of baseball.
Here are the Athletics-Nationals MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Athletics-Nationals Odds
Oakland Athletics: -1.5 (+150)
Washington Nationals: +1.5 (-182)
Over: 9 (-115)
Under: 9 (-105)
How To Watch Athletics vs. Nationals
TV: NBCSCA/MASN
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 7:05 PM ET/ 4:05 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
The Athletics offense has struggled all year, sitting 30th in runs scored while sitting 20th in batting average, 27th in on-base percentage, and 30th in slugging. While the Athletics have struggled this year, there are some bright spots as of late. Aledmys Dias has hit well this month with limited at-bats. He is hitting .333 this month with ha .500 on-base percentage. He is seeing the ball well, only striking out twice. Still, he only has one extra-base hit, a double, and has scored just once.
Meanwhile, Nick Allen is hitting .375 over the last week. He has been a major run producer for the team in the last week. Allen has two home runs and four RBIs in the last week. He has also hit a double, and stolen two bases, which is leading to him scoring three times. Hitting doubles is something Seth Brown has done a lot lately. In the last week, Brown has three doubles and a triple while driving in two runs. Brown has also scored once while hitting .333 in the last week of play. Jordan Diaz rounds out the hot bats. He is hitting .313 in the last week, with a home run and a double. The home run led to his only RBI in the last week, and one of his two runs scored.
On the hill, today for the Athletics will be Paul Blackburn. He is 2-2 with a 4.35 ERA on the season. Last time out he was great. Against the Giants, he went six innings giving up just two hits. He struck out seven batters in the game and did not give up a run. He got the no-decision though, but the Athletics won 2-1. The Athletics have won the last three games Blackburn has started overall.
Why The Nationals Could Cover The Spread
The Nationals offense is better than the Athletics. They are 19th in runs scored this year, while sitting sixth in batting average, 17th in on-base percentage, and 22nd in slugging. They have been led all year by Lane Thomas, who leads the team in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. Thomas is continuing to drive in runs this month. While hitting .237 with a .262 OBP, he has ten RBIs. That has some with the help of four home runs and three doubles. Thomas has scored eight times as well while stealing three bases. Still, he has struck out in every game except one this month, and 13 times overall.
Joining Thomas is driving in runs is Ildemaro Vargas. He has five RBIs in the last week while hitting .214. He has done that with the help of a home run and three doubles, while also scoring twice. Joining him with five RBIs in the last week is Joey Meneses. Meneses is hitting .286 in the last week, but he has three home runs, the second most on the team in the last seven days. He also has a double and has scored eight times in the last week. He is hitting .286 in the last week with a .394 on-base percentage. Still, like many Nationals, he has been struggling with strikeouts. He has struck out seven times in the last week, as the Nationals have struck out 59 times in the last seven games.
On the hill, the Nationals will send out Joan Adon to make his second start of the year. Before making his first start, he pitched twice in relief, going five innings and giving up three runs. In his first start, he went six innings, giving up three runs and a home run. Adon struck out seven batters in the game and took the win in a 7-3 victory for the Nationals over the Reds. He does have good stuff and could capitalize against an Athletics squad that has been struggling at the plate. Still, he has shown he will give up the long ball, and he needs to limit that today.
Final Athletics-Nationals Prediction & Pick
Paul Blackburn and Joan Adon are not the best pitchers in the league, and Blackburn has been wildly inconsistent. Still, the Nationals have struggled heavily against right-handed pitchers this year, and right now are on pace to have their worst month in terms of batting average. Meanwhile, the Athletics have scored more than three runs in a game just once in their last ten games. While advanced statistics show that Blackburn is due for regression and Adon is due to improve, the two offenses facing right-handed pitching do not give a lot of confidence for a high-scoring game. Expect both offenses to struggle today, and there to be few runs. With that, the Under is the best pick, and with it being a low-scoring game, take the extra runs with the Nationals.
Final Athletics-Nationals Prediction & Pick: Nationals +1.5 (-182) and Under 9 (-105)
