Athletics vs. Orioles Prediction and Odds for Friday, September 2 (Oakland a Live Dog in Baltimore with J.P. Sears)

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher JP Sears has gone 2-1 with a 2.53 in 21.1 innings since coming over in the Frankie Montas trade with the Yankees.
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher JP Sears has gone 2-1 with a 2.53 in 21.1 innings since coming over in the Frankie Montas trade with the Yankees. / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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One of the pitchers the New York Yankees traded away to receive Frankie Montas from the Oakland Athletics has significantly outperformed the player he was traded for.

Since the MLB Trade Deadline, Sears has gone 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA for the A's, while Montas in 25.2 IP has a 7.01 ERA. Not ideal.

Sears looks to keep the strong start to his Oakland career going when they head to Baltimore to face the Orioles tonight. He's opposed by right-hander Dean Kremer; coming off one of his best outings of the year at Houston; going 7.2 innings, allowing just one earned run to one of the best teams in baseball.

Which red-hot starter's team prevails on Friday night? Here's the latest odds from Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Athletics vs. Orioles Odds, Run Line and Total

Athletics vs. Orioles Prediction and Pick

I like the A's on the moneyline tonight, primarily because this line shouldn't be this much in favor of Oakland.

Sears has been excellent this year despite not getting tons of swings-and-misses. The 26-year old left-hander pitches to contact and does a great job keeping the ball down; only giving up an excellent 0.62 home runs per nine innings this season.

Baltimore has remained in contention because of their pitching this season, relative to their offense. They rank just 21st in baseball in hits while hitting .236 as a team.

Oakland doesn't do much offensively either, and Kremer should be fine against them a few times through the order. However, if the Orioles keep him around for a third time, his ERA balloons to 7.16.

I would lean UNDER 8 as well, but the value on Oakland's side is too tough to pass up. I'll play them on the moneyline in the Charm City.


Follow all of Ben Heisler's betting plays in real-time HERE