The Atlanta Braves take their talents to the West Coast to face the Oakland Athletics! It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Braves-Athletics prediction and pick.

This interleague matchup should be a good one. This game will be a battle between two elite young starters. Despite both teams heading in opposite directions, the Athletics are competing and have proven to win games against the top teams. The A's are only (50-85) and will likely finish the season with a bottom-3 record in the MLB. The Braves are on the verge of potentially tieing the New York Mets for first in the NL East record-wise. They are (84-51) on the season which is just one game behind the Mets.

Here are the Braves-Athletics MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Braves-Athletics Odds

Atlanta Braves: -1.5 (-146)

Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (+122)

Over: 8 (-108)

Under: 8 (-114)

Why The Braves Could Cover The Spread

Starting for the Braves tonight is the MLB leader in wins and it's someone you surely wouldn't expect. 26-year-old Kyle Wright is (17-5) on the season with a 2.85 ERA in 154.2 innings. Wright has pitched a quality start in his last nine starts which goes back to July 9. The right-hander will likely pitch another gem tonight against a struggling offense. He just went seven scoreless against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies in back-to-back outings. Another scoreless outing would reach 20 innings in a row without a run and that would be one of the best stretches by any starter this season.

The production the lineup is getting from Austin Riley over the last week is why they are so dangerous. He hit a home run in four straight games and as a result, the Braves have won five straight. Riley has 35 home runs, 88 RBIs, and a .923 OPS which all rank in the top eight in the league. You put that power behind Ronald Acuna Jr., Dansby Swanson, and Matt Olson, then you have a dangerous front half of the lineup. This team also has some of the best young stars in the game in Michael Harris II and Spencer Strider. This is not an easy team to beat.

Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread

Toeing the slab for the A's is left-hander Cole Irvin. Despite the (7-11) record, Irvin has been the top starter on this staff all year long. He has a respectable ERA at 3.34 and a WHIP of 1.06 in 147.2 innings. He excels at home as well pitching with an ERA of 1.94. His last start was not great giving up five earned to the Washington Nationals but pitched seven scoreless against the Miami Marlins the start prior. August was a rough month for Irvin but he has the month of September to finish out his 4th campaign strong.

The offense for this team hardly exists but when they produce it's because of Sean Murphy and Seth Brown. Elvis Andrus and Ramon Laureano also should be in the discussion with their 1.3 and 1.0 WAR (respectively), however, their offense isn't up to par. Nobody on the team is batting over .254 and the highest OPS is .773, both from Murphy. The young catcher is a bright spot for this organization but he doesn't have much help to make his stats look even better. The offense is going to need to really break out against another good young pitcher.

Final Braves-Athletics Prediction & Pick

Don't overthink this one. Take the Braves to cover this spread on the road as they have a huge month in front of them.

Final Braves-Athletics Prediction & Pick: Braves -1.5 (-146)