West Coast Matchup
Poor production at the plate has the Oakland Athletics mired in one of their worst stretches in nearly 50 years.
But even a matchup with that paltry lineup may not be enough to give the Seattle Mariners a boost.
The Athletics, losers of 11 straight series, look to take advantage of the Mariners’ struggling pitching as the teams open a four-game series Thursday night.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Seattle -114 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 8.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 59% of bets for this game have been placed on Oakland +104 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Oakland (57-69) hasn’t won a series since taking three of four at home against Seattle (46-80) from July 7-10. The last time the Athletics lost 11 series in a row was 1960, when they played in Kansas City.
Due largely to its struggling lineup, Oakland has gone 7-27 during its streak of series defeats. A 3-1 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday was the 34th time the A’s have been held to one run or none.
Oakland is batting .221 and averaging 2.9 runs over its last 34 games.
"It seems like when we get down, we’re really down," A’s outfielder Emil Brown told the team’s official Web site. "It just doesn’t seem like we have what it takes to get back up."
After going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in their latest loss, this series seems to give the A’s a chance to finally break out at the plate. The Mariners have a 9.14 team ERA and their opponents are batting .341 in that span while losing nine of their last 10. They have allowed 44 runs in their last four games.
Oakland has been held to two home runs in its last five games, but Seattle has yielded 22 during its past 10 contests.
The Mariners have lost six straight and are coming off a 15-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. The 15 runs were the most allowed by Seattle since Kansas City scored 17 on July 3, 2007.
"Guys are fighting for their jobs and their career, and others are trying to establish themselves in the big leagues," Seattle manager Jim Riggleman said. "There is a reason for everybody every day to go out there and perform, and the No. 1 reason is you sign a contract that says you are going to do that."
The Mariners will now send Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-1, 4.11 ERA) to the mound. He will be making his third straight start after being used mostly out of the bullpen for the Mariners this season.
In his last two outings, Rowland-Smith has put up a 7.59 ERA without receiving a decision. The left-hander gave up five runs and 10 hits in five innings as Seattle lost 7-6 to Minnesota on Saturday.
Rowland-Smith has a 5.68 ERA and has not received a decision in five appearances versus the A’s, all of which were in relief.
Oakland will counter with Greg Smith (5-12, 3.91 ERA), who is 0-6 in his last eight starts. He hasn’t been able to pick up a win despite posting a 2.87 ERA over his last three outings.
Smith has been hurt by a lack of run support. The A’s have scored two runs or less in 17 of his 24 starts.
The rookie left-hander gave up two runs and eight hits in five innings in a 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.
Smith pitched well in his first career start against Seattle, allowing four hits in six shutout innings as Oakland won 3-2 in 11 innings on July 10.
Oakland is 5-4 against Seattle this season, winning four of the teams’ last five meetings.
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