Oakland Athletics (2-9) vs. Baltimore Orioles (6-5)
April 13, 2023 1:05 pm EDT
The Line: Baltimore Orioles -225 / Oakland Athletics +190; Over/Under: 10
(Get latest betting odds)
The Oakland Athletics and the Baltimore Orioles meet Thursday in MLB action from Oriole Park. This will be the final installment in a four-game series this week. Baltimore won the first pair, then on Wednesday in game three the A’s got a four-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Oakland Athletics
The A’s lost the first game of this set 5-1, then took a 12-8 loss on Tuesday in a wild game two. On Wednesday Oakland scored three runs in both the first and eighth innings during an 8-4 win. Starting pitcher Ken Waldichuk put up 6.1 frames with three earned on five hits and three walks.
As starter for the Thursday matchup, the Athletics will go with Adam Oller. In two games (zero starts) so far Oller has a 4.66 ERA without a decision. He’s got six Ks in 9.2 innings. Oller is 2-8 with a 6.11 ERA in 21 career games (14 starts).
Baltimore Orioles
Over on the Baltimore side, they came back from a 7-3 deficit on 12 team hits for a comeback victory on Tuesday. In the Wednesday matchup the Orioles gave up 15 hits on the way to the loss. Dean Kremer lasted 4.1 innings with four earned on five hits and two walks.
It’ll be Cole Irvin in the starting role for the Orioles on Thursday. This year in two starts Irvin is 0-2 with a 9.35 ERA. In 8.2 innings he has nine strikeouts. In his MLB career Irvin is 21-32 with a 4.51 ERA and 297 Ks in 413.1 innings of work total.
The A’s are 18-43 in their last 61 road games and 10-26 in their last 36 versus a lefty starter. Oakland is 1-4 in their last five road games versus a lefty starter.
Meanwhile, the O’s are 21-44 in their last 65 Thursday games and 6-14 in their last 20 in game four of a series. The under is 9-1 in Baltimore’s last 10 Thursday games.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
The line’s too thick to mess with, but I’ll stay with the Orioles. So long as Irvin has a decent game, that is. It’s been a rough couple of starts for Irvin so far, and he’s coming off 4.2 innings with three earned on four hits and four walks in a loss to the Yankees. Irvin is a better pitcher than that however, and he should be okay here if all goes well. On Wednesday Baltimore had the game tied briefly in the seventh but couldn’t score from there. The Orioles are going to need a better bullpen performance in this one, and I think they’ll get it in a victory to take the series.
