The Oakland Athletics and the San Diego Padres will finish up their two-game series on Wednesday night. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series and make an Athletics-Padres prediction and pick.

The Padres took Tuesday’s matchup, so they have a chance to complete the sweep in this one. San Diego is still 5.5 games back from first place in the NL West, trailing both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants in the race for first place. Oakland is also fighting for their division, sitting six games back of the Houston Astros in the AL West. Every game counts for these teams, as they have so much ground to make up and not all that much time to do it.

Here’s how the bookmakers have set the odds for Wednesday’s game.

MLB Odds: Athletics-Padres Odds

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Oakland Athletics ML (+118)

San Diego Padres ML (-128)

Over 8 runs (-120)

Under 8 runs (+100)

Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread

Oakland will deploy starter Sean Manaea for the final start of this series. Manaea has been pretty solid all season, pitching to the tune of a 3.16 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Strangely, Manaea has been more successful on the road than he has been at home for the entirety of this season. The righty’s ERA away from home drops all the way to 2.94, with his WHIP falling to 1.10. Manaea should be able to put together a solid performance, despite how strong the San Diego lineup is.

There are a couple more factors that help Manaea’s case in this one. Oakland’s starter is only allowing a 7.4% barrel percentage, a very good number for any pitcher. The San Diego lineup only has three hitters with a barrel percentage over 10.5%, so Manaea should be able to keep hard-hit balls to a minimum against the Padres.

Manaea will be dueling against San Diego starter Blake Snell in this series finale. Snell has had a disappointing year, posting a 4.93 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP on the season. Oakland’s lineup is slightly better against left-handed pitching, putting Snell at a disadvantage in this matchup. To make things even better for the Athletics, they perform significantly better on offense when they play on the road. The A’s sees all of their major batting stats rise when they play away from the Oakland Coliseum. This Oakland lineup is a great matchup against Snell.

Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread

San Diego may not have the pitching advantage in this matchup, but their lineup definitely has the upper hand when compared to Oakland’s hitters. The Padres rank inside the top ten in the MLB in batting average, runs scored, and OBP. Manaea may be having a good season, but the San Diego lineup is good enough to give any starting pitcher trouble.

It helps that the Padres lineup hits right-handed pitching well, proven by their improved batting average, OPS, and OBP against righties. San Diego is also better offensively when playing at home, seeing a similar rise in stats when taking the field at Petco Park.

Blake Snell’s numbers may not be the most inspiring, but he does have some statistical edge against this Athletics lineup. Snell produces a strikeout percentage of 28.7%, an excellent number. The Athletics lineup has seven hitters that own a strikeout percentage of 24.7% or higher, which is extremely high for batters. If there’s a prop bet on Blake Snell strikeouts in Wednesday’s game, it’s the perfect opportunity to make some money.

Final Athletics-Padres Prediction & Pick

The Padres have the obvious advantage when it comes to hitting in this game, but Sean Manaea should be able to pitch well against this San Diego lineup. There’s less confidence in Snell, as the Athletics seem to have the upper hand against him in most statistical categories. Oakland is pick in this one. It doesn’t hurt that the sportsbooks have them as underdogs.

FINAL PICK: Oakland Athletics ML (+118)