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The Oakland Athletics take on the Colorado Rockies. Our MLB odds series has our Athletics Rockies prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Athletics Rockies.
The Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies are both fully aware that they will not compete for playoff spots this season. Both buried in the standings, the A's and Rockies know they need to play their younger players and give them plenty of experience so that they learn how to be big-league ballplayers. The A's have very few players who would be desirable trade candidates before the deadline. The Rockies might have a slightly larger number of legitimate trade possibilities, but not that many. It's hard to look at this game from a betting standpoint and conclude that one team clearly has an advantage over the other in terms of motivation and incentives.
Oakland won the first game of this series on Friday night at Coors Field in Denver. The A's built a big lead and then hung on late to capture an 8-5 decision. The A's have a chance to win a series for the ninth time in nearly four full months of baseball this year. The Rockies blew two late leads in Washington earlier this week against the Nationals, and then their pitching remained subpar on Friday in the loss to Oakland. Colorado sends former Seattle Mariner Chris Flexen to the mound against the A's, so this will be a matchup between a pitcher and team who are very familiar with each other.
Here are the Athletics-Rockies MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Athletics-Rockies Odds
Oakland Athletics: -1.5 (+140)
Colorado Rockies: +1.5 (-170)
Over: 12 (-110)
Under: 12 (-110)
How To Watch Athletics vs. Rockies
TV: NBC Sports California (Athletics) / AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Rockies) / MLB Extra Innings
Stream: MLB.tv
Time: 8:10 p.m. ET/5:10 p.m. PT
*Watch Athletics-Rockies LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
The Athletics are going with Paul Blackburn as their starting pitcher. The veteran allowed just one run in 5 1/3 innings to the Houston Astros in his most recent start last Saturday, July 22. That start gave the A's their first win of the season against Houston. Blackburn isn't an above-average pitcher, but he shows often enough each season that he knows how to get outs. The A's are going against Chris Flexen, the Rockies' starting pitcher, whom they know well from his days with the Mariners. All in all, Oakland should feel reasonably confident about how this pitching clash stacks up.
The Rockies had a good run in previous weeks in which their bullpen pitched well. Colorado won two out of three on the road against the Miami Marlins. Colorado split a two-game series with the Houston Astros and, a few days earlier, won a weekend series against the New York Yankees. The Rockies were playing reasonably well. Then came the two brutal late losses against the Washington Nationals. The Rox are back in a rut and getting shredded by opposing hitters.
Why The Rockies Could Cover The Spread
The reality with Paul Blackburn of the A's is that while his last start was great, and while he comes up with several strong starts each season, those good moments represent a minority of his appearances. Blackburn — if you look at his 2023 game log — delivers a good start in one out of every three appearances. Two out of every three starts are shaky. Colorado has promising young talent — Nolan Jones, Ezequiel Tovar, Alan Trejo — which should feast on Blackburn's offerings.
Final Athletics-Rockies Prediction & Pick
If you are going to trust your money as a bettor with these two awful baseball teams, that's a risk you will take against our advice, which is to stay as far away from this game as possible. There are better games to bet on.
Final Athletics-Rockies Prediction & Pick: Athletics -1.5
