The Oakland Athletics (45-56) ended their four-game skid in style, thanks to Sonny Gray’s three-hit shutout performance en route to a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers (56-45) on Tuesday. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have lost three straight and are barely hanging onto their NL West lead by half a game.
Who will prevail in the final bout of the series between these two ball clubs from Cali? Read on for our preview of this Bay Area vs. SoCal interleague matchup. Go on and check out the rest of the baseball action this Wednesday as well with our previews for Los Angeles Angels vs. Houston Astros and Cincinnati Reds vs. St. Louis Cardinals.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
When: Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Line: Oakland Athletics (+255) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (-305); total: 6.0 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Oakland Athletics
Uh-oh, the Oakland Athletics are having another fire sale.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Pitchers Scott Kazmir, Tyler Clippard and Ben Zobrist all found new homes after the A’s traded them in less than a week. But Oakland isn’t going down without a fight just yet, as evidenced in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over the NL West leaders the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As they look ahead into the future with their recent pitching lineup overhaul, the A’s still have a pretty potent offense to go out swinging in an otherwise lost season. In spite of being 11 games under .500 to date, Oakland still has a +39 run differential against its opposition.
Josh Reddick was one triple shy of hitting a cycle on Tuesday’s game against Los Angeles. He has gotten a hit in seven out of the last eight games for the A’s with two homers and six runs driven in. Centerfielder Billy Burns – Oakland’s current batting average leader – has been hitting well just the same. Burns hit 7-for-20 in his last six games, but needs to produce more scoring opportunities (he only had two RBIs during that span).
Starting for the A’s on Wednesday will be Jesse Chavez (5-10, 3.45 ERA), who looks to get out of his funk this July. Chavez has given up 27 hits and 12 runs in four starts and 20.1 innings of work this month. He can certainly contain one of LA’s better batters, though, as Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick is 1-of-14 lifetime against Chavez.
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Betting on the Los Angeles Dodgers
The reigning NL MVP is up to some of his nasty tricks again, as Clayton Kershaw (8-6, 2.51 ERA) is having a phenomenal month just in time for another bid at a Cy Young Award.
Kershaw has a jaw-dropping ERA of 0.27 this July, holding opposing batters to just .162 with 45 strikeouts and just two walks. He even recently shutout the Mets in his last start, giving up just three hits while racking up 11 K’s. Not a whole lot of Athletics have seen him across the mound yet, so his fantastic July could very well end on an even higher note, and a lower ERA to boot.
As much as Kershaw has been dominant over his past few starts, the opposite could be said about Los Angeles’ hitters. Leadoff man Joc Pederson is in quite a slump to say the least; he struck out thrice in yesterday’s loss to Oakland, and has been snuffed by opposing starters in five of his last six leadoff plate appearances.
Cuban sensation Yasiel Puig has also seen his production plummet significantly. Puig has just three hits over his last 31 at-bats, and could very well be moved before the trade deadline if he doesn’t pick his game back up as early as now.
The Dodgers can instead lean on Adrian Gonzalez to carry the offense. Gonzalez is 6-for-14 in the midst of his current four-game hitting streak, but produced just one run and no RBIs in the process. The rest of the Dodgers batters have got to do their part to remedy their ailing run production.
Writer’s Prediction
Kershaw pitches counters the A’s with another stellar shutout of his own. Los Angeles wins, 3-0.
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