After leading the AL West for the majority of the season, the A’s ran into a major speedbump that has dropped them from first. They now sit 4.5 games behind the Angels for the top spot after their series-opening win against Seattle on Monday. Oakland will ask Sonny Gray to grab the victory in game two as they attempt to string together a couple of wins in an effort to climb back into the division race. We like Oakland in this game as Seattle falls further in the standings.
Athletics need wins now and plenty of them
Oakland is in desperate need of wins as the race for the AL West has come down to the final month of the season. Just a couple of months ago, it looked as if the A’s would run away with the division title, but the Angels made sure that did not happen. Gray is 13-7 on the season with an ERA of 3.03, which he will look to lower even further when he takes the mound tonight against the Mariners.
Mariners still close in the AL Wild Card race
Seattle is just 1.5 games out of the second AL Wild Card spot as they face the Athletics in Oakland tonight. After a loss in game one, the Mariners will send rookie lefty James Paxton to the mound in game two. He is 4-1 with an ERA of 1.83 ERA this season. Paxton will be facing the A’s for the first time in his young career, in which he is 7-1 with a 1.71 ERA. He is the youngest starter in the Majors to have such a low ERA in the first 11 games since 1990.
Oakland and Seattle collide on Tuesday night for an AL West battle and we will place our wager at TopBet.eu, where the A’s are favored to win the game. We are going to bet 15 percent of our bankroll on Gray and the A’s as they take this game with the -1.5 (+150) spread over the Mariners.
