Plenty in Common
The Oakland Athletics and Florida Marlins have plenty in common – low payrolls, 39-33 records and second place in their respective divisions.
Two of baseball’s most surprising teams open a three-game interleague series Friday when the Athletics and Marlins meet at McAfee Coliseum.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Oakland -191 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 8 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 59% of bets for this game have been placed on Oakland -191 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Oakland and Florida have long held low-spending philosophies to build their respective teams, and it seems to be paying off this year.
The A’s have the third-lowest payroll in the majors, but are 3 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West. The Marlins own the lowest payroll, yet trail Philadelphia in the NL East by only two games.
Oakland won just 76 games last season, five more than Florida.
"They are very similar," Marlins closer Kevin Gregg told his team’s official Web site. "The markets that they are in, obviously, are the lower-end markets. They try to make the most of building chemistry together in their minor league systems, and moving them up together."
Gregg – in his second year with the Marlins – is familiar with both organizations, having been drafted by Oakland out of high school in 1996.
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The teams are built differently, however. Oakland relies on its pitching, which has produced the second-lowest ERA in the majors at 3.41, while Florida is fourth in the NL with 355 runs.
Rich Harden (4-0, 2.53 ERA), who missed a month with a right shoulder strain, has been a major part of Oakland’s success on the mound since returning. He yielded only one hit over six innings while being limited to 95 pitches Saturday in a 4-0 win over San Francisco – his first victory since May 23.
"I’d like to get my pitch count up a little more, but we have some time to do that so there’s no sense doing it right now," said Harden after the A’s improved to 7-2 in his starts.
The right-hander is 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA in seven career interleague starts, but has never faced the Marlins.
The A’s were stifled in a 2-1 defeat on Thursday and scored just two runs in losing the final two games of their series in Arizona. They had won four straight before those losses.
Oakland is 5-4 in interleague play, but this will be its first home game against an NL club. Florida has never visited the Coliseum, and won two of three games in the only visit by the A’s to Miami in 2003.
The Marlins have split the first six games of their nine-game road trip after winning two of three against Seattle earlier this week. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez went 5-for-12 with four runs scored in the series against the Mariners, and his 61 runs are the second-most of any NL player.
Florida’s Mark Hendrickson (7-5, 5.74) is 0-3 with an 11.65 ERA in his last four outings. He lasted five innings and gave up three runs on Saturday in a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay to fall to 0-4 with a 4.74 ERA in his last four interleague starts.
The 6-foot-9 left-hander went 4-0 with a 2.56 ERA in five starts in April, but is 3-4 with a 7.48 ERA in his last nine outings.
Hendrickson is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA in four career starts at Oakland – all from 2003-06.
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