Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics Betting Preview

Monday starts a brief two-game series between AL West rivals as the Seattle Mariners (67-58) take on the Oakland Athletics (70-55). The A’s will host this one at the Oakland Coliseum, with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 pm ET.

Over the weekend, the Mariners dropped two of three to the Houston Astros. They were able to salvage the finale in a 6-3 come-from-behind victory. Ty France homered to tie the game in the ninth while Kyle Seager homered in extra innings.

Oakland also finished a tough series as they dropped two of three at home to the San Francisco Giants. In both of their losses, including Sunday’s 2-1 loss, the A’s gave up the lead late. They will look to bounce back Monday at home, where they are currently 35-27.

Oakland is currently the favorite playing at home. They are -116 to win while the Mariners’ moneyline sits at +106. The runline features Seattle +1.5 (-195), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.

Pitching Matchup

The Seattle Mariners will send lefty Marco Gonzales to the mound Monday. On the season, Gonzales is 5-5 with a 4.10 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and has struck out 77 in 94.1 innings. He has been much stronger as of late, though, as he is 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA in his last seven starts.

The Oakland A’s will counter with righty Paul Blackburn (0-1, 5.06 ERA). Blackburn will be making just his second start after giving up three runs on five hits in 5.1 innings pitched in a loss to the Chicago White Sox in his last start.

By The Number

Offensively, the Athletics have been the stronger of the two teams. They rank 15th in scoring averaging 4.52 runs per game (4.26 runs at home). The Mariners rank 21st, averaging 4.17 runs.

It is Oakland who once again has the advantage on defense. They rank sixth in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 3.94 runs per game. The Mariners rank 18th allowing 4.69 runs per game (5.24 on the road).

Seattle Trying To Maintain Hope

At 67-58, the Mariners currently sit 6.5 games behind the Houston Astros in the division but only 3.5 behind the A’s in the Wild Card. With 37 games left on their schedule, Scott Servais’ team knows they need to make their move.

Leading the way for Seattle’s offense is outfielder Mitch Haniger. On the season, he is hitting .254/.314/.481 with 28 home runs, 71 runs batted in, and 85 runs scored.

Kyle Seager technically leads the team in home runs (29) and runs batted in (82), but he is hitting just .219/.293/.455.

Ty France has been one of Seattle’s hottest hitters as of late. Over the last 13 games, he is hitting .400/.436/.700 with four home runs and 10 runs batted in.

A’s Trying To Turn Around Rough Patch

The Oakland Athletics have been in the midst of a rough patch as they are 3-7 in their last 10 games and have fallen 3.5 games behind the Astros in the division. While they still technically hold onto the second Wild Card spot, they only hold it by half a game over the Boston Red Sox.

Offensively, Matt Olson has been spectacular this season. He is currently hitting .276/.373/.557 with 31 home runs, 81 runs batted in, and 78 runs scored (he leads the A’s in all three categories).

Olson has also had a lot of success against Gonzales in his career. Although he is hitting just .242 against the lefty, he has four home runs and six runs batted in over 33 at-bats.

Mitch Moreland, Matt Chapman, and Sean Murphy have also taken Seattle’s southpaw deep in their careers.

Expect Close Game Between Postseason Hopefuls

With both of these teams fighting for a postseason spot, this short series is significant for both teams.

For the A’s, they are simply trying to hold onto their Wild Card spot while ending their losing skid. The Mariners, on the other hand, enjoyed an emotional come-from-behind win Sunday and will try to carry it over as they look to cut into their Wild Card deficit.

With this being a game that could go either way, take the runs. In this case, that means taking Seattle +1.5.