Angels vs A’s Free Pick August 6 2012
The races in the different divisions of major league baseball are heating up, as we get deep into summer. The American League West has three of the strongest teams in the league and two of these three meet tonight to open a three game series. The Los Angeles Angels visit the Oakland Athletics in an important divisional matchup of two teams vying for playoff spots. Oakland is currently in second place in the division 5 ½ game behind first place Texas and a half game in front of third place Los Angeles.
The A’s are 5-5 in their last team games and tonight Oakland will have Jarrod Parker on the mound to face Los Angeles. For the season, Parker is 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA. He has not pitched well over the past month as he has become inconsistent. Since the beginning of July, his ERA has been 6.07. His last start was Wednesday where he allowed three runs, giving up eight hits in six innings to take the loss 4-1 against Tampa Bay. Prior to losing four of their last six games, the A’s were 19-4 with a team ERA of 2.99, but in their last six games, their ERA has increased to 3.62.
Los Angeles has not played well of late and is only 4-6 in their past 10 games. Their bullpen has not fared well and tonight the Angels hope their ace, Jered Weaver can give the bullpen a rest. Weaver has a season record of 14-1, is 8-0 in his last eight starts and has a 2.29 ERA. The Cy Young Award candidate pitched well in his last outing giving up five hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings to defeat division leading Texas. The Angels season record when Weaver is on the mound is 16-3.
The line currently has Los Angeles as the favorite -155 to Oakland +135. The run total is at 6.5. With Weaver pitching for the Angels smart money is behind Los Angeles to win with the total cashing out to the UNDER.