Vaughn Dalzell shares his best bet in the series opener between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics.
Athletics (+150) at Pirates (-175): O/U 8.5
Pittsburgh is hot right now, winners in five-straight games, while Oakland has lost four-straight, including 14-consecutive games on the road.
Pittsburgh’s five-game winning streak has come over the Giants and Cardinals, winning three of those games by one run. The Pirates and Athletics have not met since 2019 and this Oakland team is arguably one of the worst in MLB history.
The pitching matchup is Johan Oviedo versus JP Sears. The Pirates have the edge as Oviedo is 3-4 with a 4.50 ERA compared to Sears who is 0-3 with a 4.37 ERA. Pittsburgh is 5-6 in Oviedo’s 11 starts versus Oakland’s 3-8 record in Sears’ 11 starts.
The Athletics have not won back-to-back starts with Sears on the mound all season and they did just that in his previous start agains the Braves. Over the past seven days (five games), Oakland is hitting .173, which is the worst over that span and ranks bottom four in OPS, SLG and OBP.
Pittsburgh is also a top 12 hitting team versus LHP and is 10-6 on the ML versus LHP this season, winning the last two and four of the past six.
I grabbed the Buccos -1 at -135 odds to save some money on the -175 tag. A one-point Pirates win would mean a push, so this saves us from the dreaded hook of a -1.5.
Pick: Pirates -1 (1u)
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