The reeling and struggling Oakland Athletics will face the talented San Diego Padres on Monday in the first of a three-game set inside Petco Park in San Diego, CA. They will toss out the first pitch at 9:40 p.m.
Bookmaker has installed Oakland +170 on the ML.
The Athletics are one of the worst teams in baseball. They have had so many distractions this season that the product on the field has suffered greatly. They do not have a very strong starting rotation, and their lineup has had issues scoring and producing runs on a daily basis. They are already buried in fourth place in the AL West as everyone is chasing the front-running Seattle Mariners, who are leading the pack.
Oakland's team batting average is poor-.219 on the season, one of the poorest averages in baseball. They have a couple of professional hitters, but overall, the lack of production from the supposed heart of the lineup is appalling.
Left-fielder Brent Rooker has had a solid season for the Athletics, as he has already clubbed a team-tying 12 home runs and is on pace to hit at least 30 this season. He, along with young catcher Shea Langeliers, is really their only 1-2 punch in the lineup. You can rely on them, but the rest of the team needs to pick it up.
The Athletics will send out Joey Estes, who sports a mark of 2-1, to go along with an ERA of 4.67. He has 25 strikeouts in 27 innings of work.
The Padres are the definition of a team that is constantly underachieving. It seems like every season, they put together a strong lineup and pay high-priced free agents to come to San Diego, but they can never put it together. Is this season going to be different?
They recently ended a five-game slide and are starting to show signs of life.
On offense, they are led by 25-year-old Fernando Tatis Jr., who has already hit a team-high 11 home runs this season. He drilled 25 last season in what turned out to be a frustrating campaign that saw him play in 141 games.
They will toss out Dylan Cease, who will take the mound with a 5-5 record and an ERA of 3.51. He needs to go at least five innings and keep the game close, and then they hope the Padres' bats can come alive and they can give him some run support.
The Padres are 2-3 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the number. They are also 22-10 in their road games against the spread. The Athletics are 2-3 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the number. They are also 16-16 in their road games against the spread, too, and the totals have gone over in none of their last five games.
