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Baseball Odds: Oakland A’s at Seattle Mariners

Written August 24, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz

athletics-mariners-predictions-82409 The Athletics are coming off a series win against the American League Central leader Detroit Tigers taking two of three games. Kurt Suzuki is coming off a good series where he had a walk off hit. Jack Cust crushed the ball in the last game hitting two home runs both off rookie Rick Porcello, that gives Cust 19 home runs on the season. The most important thing to note though is that they got stellar pitching from their young arms. Trevor Cahill was superb and Gio Gonzalez was solid also while veteran Brett Tomko capped off the weekend with a solid 6 innings yesterday. On the mound tonight for Oakland is Vin Mazzaro. The 23 year old rookie is 4-8 with a 5.31 ERA, but like his teammate Trevor Cahill, he is much more talented then his numbers show. This is his first career start against Seattle. Now, here is where I give the kid a break. In his last eight starts he has faced the Yanks twice, Orioles, Jays, Red Sox, Angels, Rays and Royals. With the exception of Kansas City all the other teams have lineups that are either solid or great. I am going to predict Mazzaro comes out with one of his best starts yet going 7-8 innings allowing no more then a single run. The x-factor tonight will be Rajai Davis, he turns a walk into a double easier then anyone in baseball. Him just being on the base paths disrupts the game for the opposing pitcher. Oakland will need to keep up their intensity though as this is the first game of their road trip. Lucky for them they face an inadequate offensive team. Monday’s baseball odds have the Mariners as -118 favorites against the A’s with the total set for 8.5 runs.

The Seattle Mariners are 63-61 on the season. Of late though they have played poor baseball going 3-7 in their last 10 games. Russell Branyan has 30 homers and 75 RBIs and has been the only player who even approaches consistency on this team besides Ichiro. Branyan has three homers in his last four games. Second baseman Jose Lopez has 17 homers and 75 RBIs this season but is a very hot/cold player especially in the field. Ichiro is eager to get home I’m sure coming off his worst series of the season going 2-14 from the plate. This is not a good hitting team overall. Yes, Branyan, Ichiro, Lopez and Gutierrez are solid but after those four you have below average talent. On the mound tonight for Seattle will be newly acquired arm Ian Snell. He is another guy who is much more talented then his numbers would make you believe with a 3-9 record and 5.60 ERA. He is coming off a solid outing against the Tigers as he out dueled Justin Verlander. Seattle is falling into that late season slide as they realize their playoff hopes are history. We have seen in the past that the Mariners have tendencies late in the season to sleep walk and not give their maximum effort. Well, tonight they face a team with very little talent matched with huge hearts. If Seattle is to win today they will need some production from their 6-9 hitters. I do think Snell will pitch well tonight and keep his team in the game. The offense though, has not shown up of late and it will be interesting to see how hard Seattle plays tonight.

Haimo’s Hot Notes: The Oakland A’s are 8-1 in their last nine Monday games. Seattle is 26-11 in their last 37 games as the favorite. In the last 12 games between the two teams the Mariners have won nine of those games. Now, lets analyze this line. Seattle are very slight favorites at -115 over Oakland. The A’s are 55-68 while the Mariners are 63-61 this season. Oakland is 25-35 on the road while Seattle is 32-27 at home. Not so fast my friends, Oakland is hotter, plays much better defense and in a close game you look to your bullpen late where the A’s have a large edge. The line is what it is for a very good reason. Picks below.

Jordan’s Free Picks: Oakland Athletics +108 & Under 8.5

Jordan’s Premium Picks: A 1-2 night on the diamond for the premium picks while we split the free plays. A great slue of games going tonight including a Monday Night Football selection on the Jets/Ravens game. Also included on tonight’s sheet is one of my four Lock Double Up picks of the second half. All picks guaranteed. +1046 units over my last 35 picks going 23-12. Jump aboard and start winning today.

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