AL Wild Card Game betting preview: Rays at A's
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Charlie Morton delivers a pitch against the New York Yankees. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire)
October 2nd, 2019
| Team | Run Line | Moneyline | Total |
|---|
Tampa Bay Rays | +1.5 (-180) | +120 | Over 7.5 (+100) |
Oakland Athletics | -1.5 (+150) | -135 | Under 7.5 (-120) |
Fans of traditional, low-scoring baseball will want to tune in for Wednesday night’s winner-take-all wild card game between the Rays and Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum.
Charlie Morton (16-6, 3.05 ERA) will start for Tampa Bay off a fine regular season, in which he recorded a .215 opponent batting average and 1.084 WHIP. Most importantly Morton kept the ball in the park, with just 15 home runs allowed in 194 2/3 innings. That could go a long way to stump an A’s lineup that was fifth in home runs (257) in 2019.
Tomorrow’s #RaysUp ace Charlie Morton, “This is what we set out to do.” pic.twitter.com/In6jQrR0kf
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) October 1, 2019
Those expecting Morton to go seven or eight innings have not witnessed a lot of Rays baseball over the last two seasons. Tampa manager Kevin Cash will use his top-rated bullpen by ERA (3.71) with impunity, as he tries to string together 27 outs. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud will be ready.
“That’s the beauty of this game. There are so many different ways to get the job done,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “For us, we may not do things the traditional way of pitching, but we still get wins. Most teams do matchups more in the postseason than normal, and we’ve been doing that all year. Nobody is ready to do that more than us.”
Sean Manaea (4-0, 1.21 ERA) will counter for the A’s, and he has been sensational since he returned from offseason shoulder surgery September 1. The Indiana State product owns a 0.775 WHIP and has struck out 30 batters in 29 2/3 innings (five starts). Perhaps the southpaw will be able to cool off Rays outfielder Austin Meadows, who has 10 hits in his last 27 at-bats. Oakland’s bullpen was seventh in ERA during the regular season (3.89) and was the best in the game over the last two weeks of September (1.70).
Sean Manaea a great story & my pick for wild card game. Comes back, velo same, stuff unchanged, but command/approach so much better! Look at where, v RHP, he put his fastball (top) and slider (bottom) last year (left) and this year (right). Night and day. @DALLASBRADEN209 pic.twitter.com/2OPK2YYSxb
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) September 27, 2019
Look for A’s shortstop Marcus Semien to be the difference-maker—he’s batting .330 with 10 homers and 22 RBIs in his last 30 games and is 5-for-14 (.357) all-time against Morton.
The MLB postseason is just beginning. Follow along and wager at BetAmerica!
ADVERTISEMENT
