Giants vs. Athletics Prediction and Odds for Saturday, August 6 (Starting Pitching Isn't Everything)
By Josh Yourish
The San Francisco Giants, losers of four straight, head across town for an inter-league series with the Oakland Athletics. The A’s are coming off of a series victory over their division mates, the LA Angels. San Fran sits seven games back of the Wild Card at 51-55 as they fell entirely out of contention. Oakland never was in contention, they are an AL worst 41-66.
Carlos Rodon was a hot commodity at the trade deadline, but did not get moved and now makes his 22nd start of the year for the Giants. Adam Oller is making his eighth start for the A’s.
You can find odds for this northern California matchup at WynnBET Sportsbook.
Giants vs. Athletics Odds, Run Line and Total
Run Line
- Giants -1.5 (-135)
- Athletics +1.5 (+112)
Moneyline
- Giants -225
- Athletics +205
Total
- 7.5 (Over -105 / Under -115)
Giants vs. Athletics Prediction and Pick
Adam Oller has made seven starts for the A’s this season and Oakland has lost five of them. In a bizarre twist, the A’s two wins in Oller starts came against the AL West leading Astros. Oakland has also covered two of his starts.
Oller is 1-4 with a 7.68 ERA, he is in the bottom 1% of MLB pitchers in expected ERA, expected slugging percentage, and weight on base average. Those are three really great indicators of true success on the mound and Oller’s numbers prove he might be the worst starting pitcher in the MLB. Yet, if you bet the opponents run line in all of his starts, you would have only won your bet three times.
It seems like a really low total also with an abject disaster on the mound for the A’s and yet Oller’s starts have only gone over 7.5 four times. The A’s are 6-4 in their last ten, and the Giants are 3-7. This is a pick where I’m kind of going against what I think about the starting pitchers, and looking more at where these teams are. Starting pitching is big, but it's not everything and the Giants just got swept by the Dodgers and are continuing their freefall that began in July.
Just know that if you're backing me on this, we are betting on a guy who might be the single worst starting pitcher in baseball.
Pick: Oakland +1.5 (+112)
Follow all Josh’s bets HERE