Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA
Oakland Athletics vs Philadelphia Phillies: Can the A’s pull up another one?
The Oakland Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies are continuing their series tonight at Citizens Bank Park.
The Athletics are in the bottom five in the league
The Oakland Athletics are at the bottom of the AL West with a 36-60 record, including 14-35 on the road. The Athletics have lost 3 of the last 5 games but are coming off a 6-2 win over the Phillies last night. The Athletics have a 4.41 ERA, a .255 batting average, a .332 on-base percentage, and 1.36 walks plus hits per inning pitched. JJ Bleday leads the team with 77 hits, while Brent Rooker is on top with 40 runs and 18 home runs.
The Phillies have the best record in the MLB
The Philadelphia Phillies are on top of the NL East with the best record in the MLB, 61-33, including 36-15 at home. After sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Phillies lost the opener to the Athletics. The Phillies have a 3.25 ERA, a .224 batting average, a .288 on-base percentage, and 1.14 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Alec Bohm leads the team with 104 hits, and Bryce Harper is on top with 53 runs and 20 home runs.
Betting Trends
The Phillies are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games at home and 3-6 SU in their last 9 games against teams from AL. They have played under the total run line in 5 of their last 6 games overall, in the last six games against the Athletics, 9 of their last 10 home games against Oakland, and 4 of their last 5 games against teams from the AL West. The Athletics are 2-5 SU in their last 7 games against the Phillies, 3-15 SU in their last 18 games on the road, and 6-14 SU in their last 20 games against teams from the NL East. Oakland has played under the total run line in 8 of their last 12 games overall and 6 of their last 8 games against teams from the NL.
Prediction and Conclusion
These two teams have completely different seasons, but the series opener did not show that. The Athletics won their only third game on the road in the last 18 visits and will try to add another one tonight with starting Mitch Spence, who is 5-5 for the season with a 4.29 ERA, 66 K, 79.3 IP, and 1.26 WHIP. The Phillies will try to get back on track with rookie Tyler Phillips, who will play his second game of the season. In the first one, he had a 2.25 ERA, 7 K, 4 IP, and 0.75 WHIP. Regardless of the pitchers, there is a huge gap between these two teams, and the Phillies will bounce back tonight with a routine win.
