The Miami Marlins are at the Oakland Athletics for the first of a three game weekend series in the bay area. The Miami Marlins remain in last place in the National League East, but are coming off a three game sweep at home over the Colorado Rockies. The Marlins are 9-24 on the season.
For Oakland, they start the series with a 15-17 record on the season. Oakland is just 2.5 games out of first place in the American League West. The Athletics are coming off four straight wins, and are third in the divisional race.
The Oakland Athletics are -130 over Miami in this game.
Oakland Turns to Sears
JP Sears is going to get the start for the Oakland Athletics in this game. Sears, a 28 year old, is 1-2 on the season. He sits with a 4.64 earned run average coming into the game. In 33 innings thrown, he has struck out 24 batters, but allowed 5 homeruns. His last outing was on April 27th at the Orioles.
Oakland has struggled offensively to start the season. The wins have been coming with timely hitting and good pitching. The Athletics are scoring 3.1 runs per game. Oakland is scoring via the longball though. The A’s are sixth in all of Major League Baseball with 37 homeruns on the season.
Oakland’s top home run hitter has been Shea Langeliers, who has six on the season. Tyler Nevin is next with four. In the last four games, Oakland has scored more than 5 runs per game, but the biggest key has been their ability to not give up runs. Oakland is allowing just 2.25 runs per game.
Weathers Takes Mound for Miami
Ryan Weathers is going to get the nod for the Miami Marlins. Weathers is a lefthander with a 2-2 record on the season. The lefty has thrown 29.2 innings this season, and has 26 strikeouts on the season. The 24 year old got through just four innings in his last start; April 28th at home against Washington.
The win on Thursday saw Jesus Sanchez drive in Luis Arraez in the bottom of the 10th in front of 7,540 fans. The win came after Colorado tied the game in the 5th inning, and it stayed there. Miami finished with 8 hits, including two from the lead-off hitter Arraez.
The former batting champion is now hitting .299 on the season. Bryan De La Cruz leads the team in home runs with five, while Jazz Chisholm leads with 17 runs batted in. The Marlins as a team are hitting.223, which is near the bottom of the National League.
Marlins Fall to Oakland
JP Sears has nasty stuff. He has not had a great start to the season, but he is a talented lefthander. Both teams are playing good baseball right now, and it should be a good game and solid series. In the end, the game one winner is going to go to the Oakland Athletics.
Sears throws a gem, and Oakland gets just enough runs. Take the Oakland Athletics -130 over the Miami Marlins on Friday!
