Oakland A’s vs Toronto Blue Jays Prediction and Betting Odds July 6
Oakland A’s vs Toronto Blue Jays Betting Preview
WagerTalk MLB analyst Brian Ochsner offers his thoughts on Wednesday’s Oakland A’s vs Toronto Blue Jays afternoon clash in the American League. Right-handers Jose Barrios and James Kaprelian take the mound, and – believe it or not – Oakland is going for the series sweep.
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| Wednesday, July 6 | MLB Betting Notes, Courtesy of Caesars |
|---|---|
| Moneyline: | Toronto Blue Jays -190 at Oakland A’s +160 |
| Runline: | Blue Jays -1.5 (-115) / A’s +1.5 (-105) |
| Total: | 8 Runs (Over -120 / Under EV) |
| Game Time: | 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT |
| Where: | RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland |
| Weather: | 68* and Clear with Light Winds Blowing Out to Center |
Oakland A’s vs Toronto Blue Jays Analysis
The Toronto Blue Jays finish a three game series with the Oakland A’s in RingCentral Coliseum Wednesday afternoon, after Oakland won Tuesday night’s game 5-3.
Where are the Runs?
The Blue Jays have had a power outage in the first two games of this series, scoring a combined four runs. This doesn’t correlate with Toronto having the second best team OPS against righties in the last 30 days at .806, in the last 15 days at .840 with a .289 team batting average and tied for 2nd in OPS for the season with the Atlanta Braves at .758 with a .258 team average. It looks like the Jays should be due for some positive regression in the series finale.
Jose Barrios was one of the better pitchers in MLB a few years ago, but not in 2022. In 16 starts and 83.1 innings he’s accrued a 5.72 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP and 67 strikeouts. While these aren’t good numbers for a major league pitcher, his teammates have given him plenty of run support to have a 6-4 record this season.
Success on the Mound
When you look at Oakland’s team hitting numbers compared to Toronto’s this year and see they’ve won the first two games of this series, it reminds me of Dr. Spock in Star Trek who would say something like: “That’s not logical, Captain.” And it’s not. The A’s are still 4th worst in OPS versus righties over the last 15 days, and dead last in season long OPS at .605 with an anemic .212 batting average.
But as we know, games are played in real life and not on paper, and anything can happen. Their pitching numbers are somewhat better than their offensive stats, and it’s why they won Monday and Tuesday night’s contests, holding the visiting team to 1 and 3 runs, respectively.
James Kaprelian hasn’t had a good season with the A’s, to say the least. In 12 starts and 58 innings, he’s put up a 5.43 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP with 40 strikeouts. That comes to just over six Ks per nine innings, not a real impressive ratio for a major league pitcher. The righty has also given up 27 walks and 11 home runs – over four free passes and 1.5 long flies per nine frames – again, not numbers you want to see from anyone in your starting rotation.
Oakland A’s vs Toronto Blue Jays Prediction
There are multiple reasons the Blue Jays are a -190 favorite as the visitor – but mainly they’re a much better team than Oakland and due for a win. Although Berrios isn’t that great a pitcher, his teammates have given him plenty of run support this year, and I expect that to continue this afternoon. This is too good of an offensive team to put up just four runs the first two games, and I expect a better performance today. Both teams should regress to their season-long forms – the visitors up and the home team down. That’s why I’ll take the Blue Jays on the run line.
Prediction: Toronto on the RunLine (-1.5)
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Meet the Author
Brian Ochsner graduated from Kansas State University with degrees in Accounting and Agribusiness. He’s a life-long baseball fan and “numbers guy” who tolerates the Colorado Rockies (bad ownership), and is a Denver Broncos and Kansas State Wildcats fan. Along with his interest in the sports wagering industry, he enjoys eating good BBQ, reading books on marketing, finance and economics, and playing Texas Hold ‘Em poker.
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