The Atlanta Braves (32-22) and Oakland A’s (11-45) have had completely different starts to their seasons, but they will square off Tuesday in the second of a three-game series. The A’s will host this one at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 pm ET.
Despite the unevenness of this matchup, it was the A’s who came out victorious in the opener, 7-2. In the win, Ryan Noda hit a three-run home run and Lucas Erceg picked up the win in relief.
The Braves are the favorites in this one despite playing on the road. They are -245 to win, while the A’s moneyline sits at +200. The runline features Oakland +1.5 (+115), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Braves Try To Keep Grasp On NL East
At 32-22, the Atlanta Braves are tied for the best record in the National League and lead their division by four runs over the Miami Marlins. Trying to keep their grasp on the NL East lead, the Braves will look to pick up the win on the road, where they are 17-8 overall.
The Braves will send righty Bryce Elder to the mound for Tuesday’s matchup. In 10 games, he is 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and he has 51 strikeouts in 58.1 innings of work. In his last 17 innings of work, Elder has allowed just five earned runs.
On offense, the Braves currently rank fourth in the majors, averaging 5.19 runs per game (5.71 on the road).
Leading the offense is Matt Olson, who leads the team in both home runs (17) and runs batted in (42).
Ronald Acuna Jr is also having a strong start to the season. In 214 at bats, he is hitting .327/.408/.561 with 11 home runs, 30 runs batted in, 48 runs scored, and 22 stolen bases.
A’s Look To Go Back-To-Back
With only 11 wins on the season, the A’s have to relish in everyone that they can get. After upsetting the Braves Monday night, they will look to pick up back-to-back wins for just the second time this season.
Despite the seven runs they scored Tuesday, the A’s rank 29th in the majors in scoring, averaging just 3.44 runs per game.
Brent Rooker has been a bright spot in an otherwise struggling offense. In 165 at bats, Rooker is hitting .261/.367/.509 with a team-leading 11 home runs and 32 runs batted in.
On the defensive side, they rank dead last in scoring defense, allowing an average of 7.05 runs per game to opponents.
Trying to help the A’s pick up another win will be lefty JP Sears. In 10 games, he is 0-3 with a 4.70 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and he has struck out 52 in 53.2 innings. Despite taking no-decisions in his last three starts, Sears has allowed just five earned runs in 16.1 innings of work.
Take The Braves To Win And Cover On Tuesday
With how infrequent wins have been this season, it was nice for Oakland fans to be able to celebrate on Monday. Unfortunately for those same fans, the A’s will likely come back to reality on Tuesday.
Bryce Elder has been fantastic this season and the Braves’ offense is one of the best in the majors. Both of those things combined means that the Braves will likely bounce back and pick up the win on Tuesday.
With how rough Oakland pitching has been, don’t be surprised if the Braves not only win, but cover the -1.5 runs as well.
