Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA

Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics: A must- win series for the Giants

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics are are meetring tonight at Oakland Coliseum.

The Rays are at .500

The Tampa Bay Rays are fourth in the AL East with a 62-62 record and 28-28 on the road. After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game series at home, the Rays lost the opener in Oakland. Tampa Bay has a 3.94 ERA, a .239 batting average, a .303 on-base percentage, and 1.23 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Yandy Diaz leads the team with 125 and 45 runs, while Isaac Paredes leads with 16 home runs.

The Athletics are in a solid form

The Oakland Athletics are fourth in the AL West with a 54-71 record, including 31-31 at home. Oakland has won 7 of their last 10 and 3 of their last 4 games. The Athletics have a 4.29 ERA, a .249 batting average, a .326 on-base percentage, and 1.32 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Brent Rooker leads the team with 115 hits, 61 runs and 29 home runs.

Betting Trends

The Athletics are 6-2 SU in their last 8 games overall, 4-1 SU in their last 5 games against teams from the AL and 4-2 SU in their last 6 games against teams from the AL East. Oakland has played under the total run line in 9 of their last 13 games overall, 4 of their last 5 games against the Rays, their last 5 home games and 5 of their last 6 hoem games against Tampa Bay. The Rays are 10-4 SU in their last 14 games against the Athletics, 1-6 SU in their last 7 games against teams from the AL and 2-9 SU in their last 11 games following a AL West. Tampa Bay has played under the total run line in 11 of their last 16 games overall and 6 of their last 7 games on the road.

Prediction and Conclusion

Both teams are most likely going to miss the playoffs this season, but it is a fact that they have picked up their form lately. The Rays swept the Diamondbacks but then had a long flight to the West Coast and failed to score in the opener against the Athletics. The Rays will try to bounce back today with Shane Baz on the mound, who is 0-2 for the season with a 4.21 ERA, 32 K, 36.1 IP, and 1.43 WHIP. The Athletics will go out with second-year pitcher Joey Estes, who is 5-5 for the season with a 4.72 ERA, 66 K, 87.2 IP, and 1.21 WHIP. Looking back at their recent head-to-head games, the majority of them finished under, and therefore the total run line is set at only 7.5 for this game. Given their current form and the starting pitchers, we go with over.