The Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners meet on Monday night for the first matchup of a three-game series that could make or break these teams' respective seasons.. With both teams desperately racing for a Wild Card spot, let's continue our MLB odds series and make an Athletics-Mariners prediction and pick.

Oakland currently stands at 85-71 and is 42-33 on the road. If you put $100 on every single Athletics game so far this season, you’d be down $67 on the moneyline.

Seattle currently stands at 86-70 and is 42-33 at T-Mobile Park. If you put $100 on every single Mariners game so far this season, you’d be up $3,345 on the moneyline.

Here’s how sportsbooks have set the Athletic-Mariners odds.

MLB Odds: Athletics-Mariners Odds

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Oakland Athletics ML (+107)

Seattle Mariners ML (-117)

Over 8.5 Runs (-105)

Under 8.5 Runs (-115)

Why The Athletics Could Win This Game

The A's will send lefty Cole Irvin to the mound in a must-win game. In 30 starts for Oakland this season, Irvin has pitched to a 3.99 ERA.

The young southpaw has been very consistent for Oakland in the last two months. In the months of August and September, Irvin has made nine starts. He has allowed more than three earned runs in only one of those appearances and pitched at least five innings in six out of nine.

In his last three appearances, Irvin holds a 3.00 ERA and produced three solid outings. This includes five innings against the Mariners in his last start in which he allowed three earned runs.

The A's know it's unlikely that Irvin gets more than six innings. Thankfully for Oakland, their bullpen has been in form of late. In eight innings of work against a powerful Astros offense, they allowed only two earned runs.

Still, the bats will have to do some damage to Chris Flexen for the A's to get a win when you take into account Irvin's habit of allowing multiple runs.

Oakland has had mixed results against Flexen. They got to him early twice during the regular season (seven earned runs in 11 1/3 innings against the A's), but he has buckled down of late.

Lately, the biggest weakness of the Mariners righty has been finding the strike zone. After allowing multiple walks in only seven of his first 24 starts, Flexen allowed two or more walks in all five of his last appearances.

The A's are in the top half of the league in walks drawn and have the seventh-fewest strikeouts in the league. They've shown the ability to work counts and take advantage of wild pitchers. The best hope for the Oakland offense is a patient approach to see if Flexen will dig himself into some trouble.

Why The Mariners Could Win This Game

Like Irvin, Chris Flexen has shown up consistently for the Mariners for nearly the whole year. The difference between the two is Flexen has been consistently strong, while Irvin has been consistently mediocre.

In 23 out of 29 outings, Flexen has allowed three runs or less. While Irvin struggles to give his team distance, Flexen has been a workhorse. In all but three of his starts, the righty has gone at least five innings.

An even better sign for the Mariners is how Flexen has pitched against the A's lately. In his last three starts against Oakland, Flexen tossed 19 innings and allowed only four earned runs while striking out 14 and walking five. The A's won two of three of these latest matchups.

Irvin's recent record against the Mariners does not inspire confidence in anyone looking to back Oakland. In the lefty's last three starts against Seattle, he allowed 10 earned runs in just 12 innings. The A's lost every single one of those three games.

The Mariners have the starter edge, and they have the bullpen edge as well. This Mariners bullpen has a lower ERA, lower WHIP, and more saves than their Oakland counterparts.

The only area of the game where Bob Melvin's group might have a small advantage is the lineup. However, if we've learned anything from this season, it's that you can't count out the Mariners in Seattle.

Despite having one of the lowest batting averages in the league, Seattle seems to consistently put enough runs on the board to eke out a win. Most of this is thanks to the home run.

The Mariners have hit the 12th-most homers in the league. In three of his last five starts, Irvin surrendered two or more dingers. Seattle should work its magic again and do enough damage to back Flexen.

Final Athletics-Mariners Prediction & Pick

The Mariners have been the second-biggest Cinderella story of the season after many pundits picked them to be cellar dwellers. Now, sitting two games out of a Wild Card spot, they can continue to shock the baseball world. Flexen has been dominant against the Athletics and in general, and Irvin has inspired little trust with his last outings. The Mariners deserve to be the favorite in this one and probably should be an even heavier favorite than they are. Put your money on the most profitable team in baseball.

FINAL ATHLETICS-MARINERS PREDICTION: SEATTLE MARINERS ML (-117)